90 



C. SKOTTSHERG 



everjthint;. To-day we can speak with Guzman of the "Crepusculo de la langosta". 

 The situation is ahirniinir, he calls for measures to put an end to the decline, and 

 he j)roposes certain ways and regulations. I would like to add that in a case as 

 serious as this the best thing to do is to {)roclaim the whole year a closed season 

 tluring a sufhciently long period. An industry based on the enormous supply 

 of fisii, with the bacalao (hg. lOo) heading the list, would, if carefully handled, 

 become a profitable enterprise. A ship with modern equipment would bring the 

 frozen fish to the mainland where it would find a ready market. The new methods 

 of cold storage permit deep-frozen food, fish not excepted, to keep absolutely 

 fresh during any length of time. Beside the bacalao, the most abundant of all and 

 considered to be the most delicious, there are several other kinds of commercial 

 value unknown on the coast of Chile. 1 shall add one more remark. Cumberland 

 l^a\- ought to be an ideal place for a biological station. The fauna and flora, 

 terrestrial as well as marine, ofi'ers a wide field for scientific research, no less 

 important from a {practical viewpoint. 



The present management of these precious islands is not in good accordance 

 with the intrinsic meaning of the Law and, in some cases, directly violates it. 

 If the responsible authorities do not change their attitude, Juan Fernandez will 

 become a second Saint Helena and a disgrace to an enlightened world. 



S[)eaking as on behalf of the Chilean nation, I would like to say, with a 

 slight alteration, what (iuzman said about the threatened langosta (p. 223): 



\o permitamos que nuestras islas se transformen en el recuerdo de una 

 riqueza extinguida en forma irreparable. Asi lo exige nuestro prestigio de nacion 

 civilizada, asi lo esperan de nosotros las generaciones futuras. 



December 1953. 



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