July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



63 



Barbados (Contd,): 



to the United States). This firm can finally 

 look forward to expanding its operation. 



Fig, 1 - Unloading dock, office, repair shop, and parts storeroom 

 of U,S, -owned firm in Bridgetown, Barbados. Two shrimp 

 trawlers at the dock. 



Soon the Barbados Marketing Corporation 

 (BMC), a Government statutory board, is to 

 enlarge existing freezing and cold-storage 

 facilities at a cost of EC130,000 (US$76,500). 

 The Government's reluctance to expand these 

 facilities, lest the American firm move on to 

 a more lucrative base of operation, appar- 

 ently has been overcome by the willingness of 

 the U. S. company to sign an agreement to 

 provide for processing a specific number of 

 pounds of shrimp a year for a specific num.- 

 ber of years. The shrimp trawler fleetwork- 

 ing out of Barbados now numbers 32 vessels 

 and should increase. 



Fig. 2 - Close-up view of shrimp trawlers at the dock in Bridge- 

 town. 



Although the catch of fish in 1965 exceeded 

 that of 1964 and the number of operational 

 fishing vessels increased over the same per- 

 iod, the Island, to meet local demand, still 

 had to import EC$1.2 million (US$706,000) 

 worth of processed and salted fish. That 

 amount was in excess of the value of the local 

 catch. With the approval of Government, lo- 

 cal retail prices were allowed to rise to ex- 

 isting black market levels. Since catches 



are generally confined to limited periods, the 

 firm, with a shortage of storage facilities, 

 was unable to absorb the glut and create a 

 more even distribution pattern. Experiments 

 are now being made in exporting flyingfish 

 when the catch is heavy. 



Fig. 3 - Flyingfisli gill-netters in foregioimd docked at Bridge- 

 town. 



Relief may soon be in the offing since the 

 EC$5.0 million (US$2.9 million) four-year 

 U. N. Special Fund Fisheries Project for the 

 Caribbean finally got off the ground. The gen- 

 eral aims of the project are to promote fish- 

 ing industries in the area by (a) demonstra- 

 tional and exploratory activities, (b) training 

 of fisheries officers, and (c) marketing dem- 

 onstrations. However, in the final analysis, 

 to expand this important economic activity 

 considerable capital will have to be provided 

 for modernization of equipment and methods. 

 (U. S. Consulate General, Barbados, April 27, 

 1966.) 



Bermuda 



U.S.S.R. STUDIES POSSIBLE FISHING BASE 



ON BERMUDA ISLANDS: 



The Crown Lands Corporation of Bermuda 

 received an inquiry from a Canadian firm 

 which was investigating the possibilities of 

 Soviet trawlers using the free port area on 

 Ireland Island, Bermuda, as a storage and 

 transshipment base for fish. According to 

 the chairman of the Corporation, information 

 about the availability of land in the free port 

 area had been passed on to the Canadianfirm. 

 (U. S. Consul, Hamilton, May 2, 1966.) 



