Q REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Canned fish are but little used, the small amount imported in 1897 

 from different countries being valued as follows: 



England $8, 215 



Spain 5,808 



United States 166 



France 184 



Italy 33 



Total 14,406 



Imported fish are usually distributed to the interior in original pack- 

 ages, but when goods are to go over bad roads the packages are opened 

 by the purchaser and the contents packed in bags, which are carried 

 by pack animals. 



The marketing of crops has some connection with the fish trade in 

 the securing of return cargoes by vessels arriving with cargoes offish. 

 Coffee crops are moved from the last of October up to June; sugar crops 

 from the last of January until the end of May. In 1899 the sugar crop 

 began to move the first part of January, somewhat earlier than usual. 

 Return cargoes can usually be had from the first of February up to the 

 end of April. 



Freight rates by sail from Ponce to points north of Cape Hatteras are 

 subject to some variation. February 1, 1899, they were as follows: 

 On molasses, $2 to $2.12^ a hogshead on a gauge of 110 gallons; sugar 

 in bags, 16 to 17 cents per 100 jiounds; sugar in hogsheads, 18 to 20 

 cents per 100 pounds net weight. 



The various expenses connected with handling a cargo of fish are 

 here given in detail : 



Slied charges, $1.75 per 1,000 kilograms. Dredging dties, 50 cents per 1,000 kilos. 

 Lighterage, 25 cents a tierce; small packages in proportion. 



Receiving, weighing, cooperage, and watching, 20 cents a tierce ; small packages 

 in proportion. 

 Cartage, storage, and delivery, 20 cents a tierce. 



Discount on six months' time, 7^ per cent. Commission and guaranty, 5 per cent. 

 Custom dues (elsewhere noted). 



In i)a8t years sales have, as a rule, been on six months' time, account 

 sales with 7^ per cent discount being promptly made as soon as cargoes 

 were disposed of The state of the market was cabled to shippers, 

 and, if not satisfactory to them, cargoes were stored and held for better 

 prices unless their condition called for immediate sale. Sales are made 

 on a basis of Spanish money, and so long as this continues no bankers' 

 commission is charged on remittances. 



Boneless fish here, as elsewhere, remain to be introduced. Small 

 shipments are advised until this product becomes known and a demand 

 is created. Small shipments of canned fish by United States packers 

 are also advised. Dealers believe that canned fish of good quality, 

 if prices were not too high, would meet with a favorable reception and 

 supplant the European importations. In canned salmon, the pale or 

 light-colored lower grades of good quality would not be discriminated 

 against on account of color. 



