262 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



Refrigeration: 



Although a number of refrigeration plants exist, these generally 

 lack modern machinery and employ sub-standard methods. The role of 

 refrigeration in the fishing industry is not yet thoroughly understood. 

 Ice, chiefly because of the present high prices, is little used by the fish- 

 ing industry. The proximity of the fish producing areas to the main 

 markets does not seem to require the more expensive methods of pre- 

 servation of fish, such as freezing. 



Salteries: 



Salting and drying of fish received considerable impetus during the 

 last war, chiefly for export. Production costs have been high, and for 

 this reason comparatively little salt fish is consumed in Chile. The so- 

 called "bacalao de Juan Fernandez" (actually a grouper) is one of 

 several species which is salted and dried. In addition, small amounts 

 of hake, shark, elephant fish and cusk eel are dried; tuna, herring, sar- 

 dine and anchovy salted; and swordfish, snake mackerel, herring, sardine, 

 anchovy hake and smelt smoked. In 1951 about 375 tons of fish were 

 dried and salted, and 2,24 tons smoked. The resultant products were 

 90 and 5 tons respectively. 



Canneries: 



Canning started in Chile around 1865. In 1946 there were some 

 20 canning plants having an approximate declared capital of 40 million 

 Chilean pesos. By 1950 the number of fish canning concerns increased 

 to 56 with an active capital of 350 million pesos. These canneries are 

 scattered from Arica in the far north to the extreme south in Punta 

 Arenas on the Strait of Magellan. The canneries are concentrated in 

 the following areas: Tarapaca— Antofagasta, Valparaiso, Talcahuano, 

 Puerto Montt, Calbuco, and Punta Arenas. From the standpoint of 

 production the Tarapaca-Antofagasta areas and the Talcahuano area are 

 the major centres of canned fish production, processing respectively 

 6,700 and 17,900 tons of raw material. 



Exact statistics of Chile's canned fish are not available, but the total 

 figures give an idea of the steady rise in production. In 1936, around 

 1000 tons net of canned fish and shellfish were produced; 1951 fish 

 pack, chiefly sardines, tuna and herring, amounted to a net weight of 

 about 3425 metric tons. 



Pesquera Iquique, S.A., with fish-freezing plant, plenty of refrigerated storage and tuna 

 and sardine canning, owns the most modern and best equipped fish plant in all Chile, located 

 in Iquique. In addition, there are Sociedad Industrial Pesquera de Tarapaca (elaborating the 

 renowned brand "Cavancha"), with plants in Iquique and Taltal; Jorge Cerda's plant "El 

 Buen Gusto" in Arica; Sociedad Pesquera Industrial Pacifico, in Iquique; Compania Industrial 

 Pesquera and Mateo Zlatar's plants, in Antofagasta; Industrias Pesqueras Guayacan in Co- 

 quimbo; Sociedad Italo-Portuguesa "Sipol" in Valparaiso; Jorge Sarquis' Sociedad Pesquera 

 "Qurbosa" Conservas y Productos Pesqueros S.A.; and Meekes and Saelzer in Talcahu.Tno — San 

 Vicente are the largest fish canneries in the country, whose combined output exceeds 15% of 

 the entire canned fish production. 



