FISHERIES OF CHILE 263 



Shellfish canning is centered in the southern zone. In 1951 twenty 

 canneries were in operation, of which eleven are located at Calbuco 

 Island; another five farther south and the balance in Punta Arenas. Six- 

 teen canneries produced in that year 106,650 cases with an average of 

 6,660 cases per cannery, the largest output of a single cannery being 

 18,000 cases of finished product. A standard case of canned shellfish 

 contains 48 cans of 240 grams net each. The net output amounted to 

 1225 metric tons. 



The present fish canning industry, with few exceptions, does not 

 employ modern machinery for efficient production methods. Costs, 

 therefore, are relatively high. Although buildings are usually good, 

 equipment, layout, working space arrangements and labour saving de- 

 vices are deficient. Machinery and other equipment, in general, are ob- 

 solete. Among the problems confronted by the Chilean fish processing 

 industry, in common with other Latin American countries, are the dif- 

 ficulty of acquiring new equipment to replace obsolete machinery, the 

 difficulty of obtaining foreign hard currency for cans, and the low 

 standard of cans manufactured locally. In fact, containers are often 

 made by the cannery and this practice has led to cans of sub-standard 

 quality, a great divergence of sizes and added overhead expenses. 



It is obvious that the Chilean canning industry with modernization 

 and expansion will be capable of producing a much greater pack at 

 lower costs than those prevailing at present. Increased production is 

 dependent on the amount of tin plate available and of export markets 

 to absorb the output. The most logical and readily available markets 

 are those of other Latin American countries, but this outlet has not yet 

 been utilized. United States importers maintain that high cost of trans- 

 portation and difficulties of shipping make the venture of importing 

 Chilean canned fish to the United States almost unprofitable. Moreover, 

 production costs are at present abnormally high and Chilean canners 

 are not in a position to capture any significant part of the world's market 

 for commodities such as tuna and bonito. However, exports of canned 

 fish and shellfish have risen from 112.4 metric tons in 1948 to 935.3 

 tons in 1951. It seems that the crustaceans and molluscs pack could 

 find a good place in foreign markets. 



Fish meal: 



Annual production in two modern plants, one with a capacity of 

 10 tons per hour, located in San Antonio and several small or crude 

 installations at the canneries, is estimated in 1951 at about 5,800 tons. 

 The majority of the raw material used is hake obtained by trawling 

 in the near fishing grounds. With a low oil content the hake is not 



