FISHERIES AND MARKET FOR FISHERY PRODUCTS IN MEXICO, ETC. 69 



gardless of the quality of the product. There is absolutely no preju- 

 dice in this country against American salmon and with prices equiva- 

 lent, it should compete very favorable with the European product. 

 The exchange rate for the dollar has been unfavorable for the past 

 few months for the sale of all kinds of American goods, but this has 

 been improved of late in an encouraging manner. All foreign busi- 

 ness in Paraguay is done in Argentine gold peso, the Paraguayan cur- 

 rency consisting only of nonconvertible paper. 



URUGUAY. 



MONTEVIDEO. 



[By Sherwood H. Avery, vice consul, September 27, 1921.] 



• The following information has been furnished this office by J. N. 

 Wisner, former director of the Institute de Pesca (Bureau of Fish- 

 eries) of the Uruguayan Government, now in business at Buenos 

 Aires, Argentina: 



The fishery products in Uruguay are confined almost exclusively to fresh fish. 

 Practically all fish are taken, at least the larger part, by line fisljermen. Some are 

 caught in gill nets and a very few with seines. At times a little trawling is done by 

 the Government-owned trawler. Practically all fish are consumed fresh. Some 

 few are salted, and fewer still are smoked and sold as delicacies. 



A lot of fishery products are imported by Uruguay in tins and also a considerable 

 (quantity of dried fish. Most comes from European markets. At times some cod fish 

 is imported from the United States. Practically speaking, there is no reexport of 

 imported fish products. At the present moment the question of exchange precludes 

 importations from the United States. In ordinary times the retail and wholesale 

 merchants are Spaniards, Italians, etc., and it is only natural that they should import 

 what is produced by their friends or relatives or fellow countrymen and to which 

 the clients feel friendly. Price, quality, and products that appeal to the local appe- 

 tite are the essential factors in increasing the imports from the United States. Canned 

 salmon is about the only fishery product which might be looked upon as strictly 

 American, but a few canned oysters are, of course, sold. The market for either canned 

 salmon or oysters is negligible. 



The following tables, taken from official statistics, show the 

 amounts of fish exported from Uruguay during recent years. Quan- 

 tities of fresh fish are given in "colleras" (bunches of 3, 4, or 5 fish, 

 according to size), dried and canned fish are given in kilograms, and 

 the ofiicial valuations of all are expressed in pesos (SI. 034). 



Amount offish exported by Uruguay, 1917 to 1921. 



The fish station at Montevideo (Alojamiento de Pescadores) reports 

 that during 1920 there entered this port 8,633,940 pounds of fresh 

 fish. Classified, they were as follows: 8,575,741 pounds of large 



