July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



89 



Peru (Contd.): 



ment of the fish meal industry in the 1960's. 

 Some believe that about 9 million metric tons 

 of anchovy could be harvested annually with- 

 out serious competition to the guano bird pop- 

 ulation. 



In 1965, the guano bird population declined 

 to 3 million birds from 18 million in 1964. 

 The production of guano fertilizer was 168,700 

 metric tons in 1965, a drop of 36,391 tons 

 from 1964. Guano fertilizer is cheap because 

 of a Government subsidy. In a reasonably 

 free market, guano could not compete with 

 commercial fertilizers. It is interesting to 

 note also that during 1965 there was a steady 

 expansion of the Peruvian production of chem- 

 ical fertilizers (97,444 metric tons produced 

 in 1965, compared to 81,086 tons in 1964) in 

 line with the increasing demand of both do- 

 mestic food producers and export crop grow- 

 ers. 



In the meantime, the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion has proposed to conduct a research study 

 on all aspects of the problem and the USAID 

 Mission in Peru has pledged full cooperation 

 with Smithsonian scientists. (U. S. Embassy, 

 Lima, May 6 and May 11, 1966.) 



Portugal 



TUNA FISHERY MODERNIZATION PLANS: 



The Portuguese tuna industry is dependent 

 on the catch of fish traps and small wooden 

 vessels. But the Portuguese fisheries devel- 

 opment plan for 1965-1967 calls for construc- 

 tion of four ocean-going tuna vessels as well 

 as new cold-storage support bases. 



It was reported in early May 1966 that 

 Germany has agreed to (1) help Portugal trans- 

 form a vessel into a modern live -bait tuna 

 fishing vessel and (2) provide two technicians 

 to make a 6 -months tuna survey off the Cape 

 Verde Islands. If the survey is promising, 

 Portugal may build a fishing base in the Cape 

 Verde Islands. Germany is the leading buy- 

 er of Portuguese cannedfish. (U.S. Embassy, 

 Lisbon, May 10, 1966, and other sources.) 



South Africa 



PLANS FACTORYSHIP 

 FISHING OPERATION: 



Following the failure in 1965 of offers for 

 public subscriptions in the Willem Barendsz 

 (a 26,000 -ton former whaling factoryship), 

 which is to be converted into a floating fish 

 factory, the project has proceeded with pri- 

 vate capitalization. Included is a 40-percent 

 share held by an'established inshore fishing 

 group. The ship is undergoing conversion, a 

 process which will require a total of several 

 months for completion. In the meantime, 

 negotiations are under way to bring Willem 

 Barendsz Ltd. into the marketing orbit of 

 South African Fish Meal Producers. Although 

 various restrictions have been placed upon 

 the operation of the factoryship (an embargo 

 on the use of South-West African ports and 

 operations within the 12 -mile fishing limit), the 

 ship will have access toCape Towndocks. (U- 

 nited States Embassy, Pretoria, April 29, 1966.) 



PELAGIC SHOAL FISH CATCH 

 OFF T O SLOW START IN 1966: 



TiTe poor start for South Africa's 1966 

 shoal fishing season, with disappointing catches 

 in January, was attributed to poor fishing south 

 of Cape Town. The Cape west coast catch in 

 January 1966 amounted to 21,287 metric tons 

 as compared with 38,713 tons in 1965 and 

 68,041 tons in 1964. This was especially dis - 

 appointing in view of the high and firm prices 

 for fish meal quoted at US$182 a metric ton 

 c.i.f. European ports. 



South Africa's Pelagic Shoal Fish Catch, 

 January 1966 with Comparisons for 1965 and 1964 



Species 



1966 1 1965 1 1964 I 



'ilchaids 



4,637 

 6,359 

 3,338 

 6,953 



(Metric Tons) 



12,276 



6,746 



4,362 



15,329 



63,781 



3,666 



594 



Maasbanker ......... 





Anchovy 



Total 



21,287 



38,713 



68,041 



The January 1966 catch in South Africa 

 yielded 4,832 short tons of fish meal, 169,583 

 imperial gallons of fish body oil; also 124,272 

 pounds of canned pilchards, 232,454 pounds of 

 canned maasbanker, and 313,632 pounds canned 

 mackerel, making a total of 670,368 pounds of 

 canned fish. 



While South African factories were unable 

 to take full advantage of the firm price situ- 

 ation, fish meal production in Peru was re- 

 ported good. The industry in South-West Af- 

 rica was hoping for an increase in the pilchard 



