FISHEEIES AND MARKET FOR FISHERY PRODUCTS IN MEXICO, ETC. 95 



eign fish would have to sell far below the prices at present obtainable, 

 provided there were not the marked preference for dried cod which is 

 mentioned below. Shellfish, such as clams and oysters, are practi- 

 cally unobtainable, and those found are of a very inferior quality. 

 Most of the fishing is done with nets, lines being very little used, 

 while spiny lobster, crawfish, crabs, etc., are caught in pots made of 

 interwoven strips of bamboo. 



There is no fish curing and no exportation of fish. Importations of 

 fishery products include sardines preserved in oil, tomato sauce, etc., 

 smoked and pickled herrings, pickled salmon, dried and salted cod, 

 haddock, and hake. Sardines are usually imported from France, 

 as they pay a lower duty than from foreign countries. Furthermore, 

 ohve oil, etc., is cheaper there than it is in some of the other 

 countries. During the war, however, the bulk of all commodi- 

 ties imported into Martinique came from the United States. Smoked 

 and pickled herrings are usually received from Canada and the United 

 States, and sometimes from Barbados, where several of the large 

 Canadian fish curers have agents to whom they ship on consignment. 

 There are times when either the Barbados market is overstocked or 

 the Martinique market is short of pickled herring, and in such cases it 

 pays to order from the British islands. Pickled salmon is imported 

 in but small quantities and is bought more often from Barbados 

 rather than direct from the country of origin. 



In the case of cod, haddock, and hake, comparatively large quan- 

 tities are imported, considering the size of the island and its popula- 

 tion of only about 200,000. A large part of these three kinds comes 

 from St. Pierre and Miquelon and France, on consignment to two 

 firms here that have the agencies of several French curers. This fish 

 is the cheapest, pays a low rate of duty, and spares the purchaser the 

 risks of exchange fluctuations, since it is bought in French currency. 

 It can therefore undersell any foreign fish, making it highly attrac- 

 tive to buyers. It has, however, the disadvantage of being poorly 

 cured, possibly not dried enough, and shipments which arrive in 

 first-class condition are in a state of putrefaction shortly thereafter 

 because of the total lack of cold-storage plants. Consequently, it is 

 a decided risk to the small retailer who may be obliged to keep a cask 

 of 448 pounds more than a month before he can dispose of it. This 

 permits Canadian and Newfoundland fish to compete successfully, 

 even though it always sells between 10 and 20 centimes more per 

 kilo. There is at present only one firm which receives cargoes on 

 consignment direct from Canada, but considerable quantities of this 

 stock are imported from Barbados, which is only one day's distance 

 by schooner from Martinique when the wind is favorable. An ad- 

 vantage in importing from that place is that shipments can be made 

 immediately, thereby reducing to a minimum the risk of market 

 fluctuations. 



Practically no cod, haddock, or hake are received from the United 

 States and what do come from there have usually been shipped from 

 Canada via New York. The American fish has not met with success 

 in Martinique, first because the quality supplied by the American 

 shipper has been far too superior and consequently too expensive for 

 the poor negro laborers, who earn but a few francs per day. The 

 average fish from Canada are small fish, 12 to 18 inches long and not 



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