36 SEA: FISH (OR TRINIDAD 
In the vicinity of the Bocas, during the months of June, 
July and August, the fishermen frequently capture in their 
seines schools of fish ranging from ten to twenty thousand 
pounds weight, chiefly “cavalli’” and “paoua,’’ and these 
they can keep alive for some days in the seine, hauling the 
ends ashore and mooring the back of the bag or purse to a 
boat anchored out. Very often there will be six or more boat 
loads (large pirogues holding 2,500 Ibs. each) captured, but 
the fishermen only take out a boat-load at a time for trans- 
mission to market; if they take more they will be at the 
mercy of the ring of “middle-men’”’ who will force them to 
accept their offer or jettison their cargo, which necessarily 
becomes quickly unsaleable after the sun gets up. The 
seine crew sell their fish to the middle-men at prices ranging 
from $2.00 to $4.00 per 100 lbs., (on an average), so they do 
not make an exorbitant profit; but the aforesaid ordinary 
citizen has to pay almost invariably from 10 cents to 12 cents 
per pound, so there must be a screw loose somewhere. Such 
an important article of diet to the masses in a sea-port town 
as fresh fish, should certainly be more within the reach of 
their limited purse than it now is, and for that purpose alone 
it would be highly advisable that a Sea-fishery Commission 
of some sort should be appointed to look into and deal with 
the matter. With the experiences of Jamaica before us, as 
so ably described by Mr. Duerden, the Bocas fishing grounds 
would be in the main impracticable for trawling on account 
of the rocky bottom and reefs, but there seems no reason why 
good work should not be achieved by a fast steam trawler in 
the Gulf going south from Port of Spain to Cedros, in fact 
to any port where there is no rocky bottom to cut up the 
trawl. The main requisites would be quick despatch and 
plenty of ice. The long-line fishery, where miles of line are 
put out with thousands of hooks, would be unsuccessful on 
account of the quantities of predaceous fish that obtain in 
these waters. The fact that our supply of sea-food depends 
entirely on the desultory efforts of a very poor section of our 
population, and that there is no amalgamation of capital 
with labour, is a great impediment to the development of an 
industry which ought to be one of our chief resources. 
