36 SEA FISH OF 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 lbs. 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. 



