66 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 8 



Malaysia (Contd.): 



research vessels. Costing about M$150,000 

 each, the vessels will come equipped with 

 echo-sounders and wireless sets. (U.S. Em- 

 bassy, Kuala Lumpur, June 7, 1966.) 



Editor's Note: Hopefully, the survey will 

 help relieve the tension between trawlermen 

 and inshore fishermen. The location of un- 

 exploited fishing grounds, which could be des- 

 ignated for trawling, would reduce the temp- 

 tation for trawlermen to poach on inshore 

 grounds inside the 12-mile, 15-fathom limit. 

 On May 29, marine police used tear gas to 

 disperse 500 inshore fishermen who had mo- 

 bilized for another naval battle with Pangkor 

 Island trawlermen who were reportedly vi- 

 olating the limit. 



It remains to be seen whether improved 

 relations with Indonesia will also help re- 

 lieve tension. Repeated Indonesian attacks 

 on fishing boats have made Malaysian trawl- 

 ermen reluctant to fish more than a few 

 miles off the Malaysian coast. 



Mexico 



SHRIMP TRENDS, FIRST QUARTER 1966: 

 Shrimp landings during the first quarter 

 of 1966 were up somewhat over the same 

 period of 1965, according to preliminary 

 data of the Mexican Department of Fish- 

 eries. The total catch of January -March 1966 

 for the 9 principal shrimp ports was 7,046,960 

 kilograms (15,503,300 pounds), compared to 

 6,754,000 kilograms (14,858,800 lbs.) in 1965. 



Fig. 1 - Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Entrance to harbor. 



r ?-",.j!.t:^j 



M^.^:^^^^'' 



Fig. 2 - Shrimp trawlers and freezing plants at Guaymas, Sonora, 



(Data are based on shrimp as landed--heads- 

 on, heads -off, etc.) 



The Pacific Coast fishery reversed the 

 downward trend of the past several years, 

 with a substantial increase in catch. In 1966, 

 catches were 4,892,-869 kilograms (10,964,300 

 pounds)j compared to 4,129,336 kilograms 

 (9,084,500 pounds) the preceding year. 



Four Pacific Coast ports showed large 

 increases. One port showed a slight increase, 

 but Salina Cruz experienced a sharp drop 

 (table 1). 



Table 1 - Mexico's Principal Pacific Coast Ports Show 

 Increased Shrimp Landings, First Quarter 1966 and 1965 



Port 



Mazatlan. . . . 

 Suaymas . , . , 

 Puerto Penasco. 

 San Felipe , . . 

 Topolobampo . 

 Salina Cruz . . 



1966 



First Quarter 



1965 



(1,000 KUos) 



1,979 

 1,417 

 396 

 115 

 286 

 700 



1,670 

 926 

 287 

 31 

 273 

 941 



1966 



1965 



(1,000 Lbs.) 



4,354 



3,117 



871 



253 



629 



1,540 



3,674 

 2,037 



631 

 68 



601 

 2,070 



The fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, which 

 had been on the increase for several years, 

 suffered a setback. Production in 1966 was 

 2,154,091 kilograms (4.7 million pounds), 

 compared to 2,624,664 kilos (5.8 million 

 pounds) the preceding year. 



The two principal Gulf ports had smaller 

 production (table 2) whereas Tampico had a 

 small increase. 



Neither governmental nor industry statis- 

 tics specify species nor size of shrimp. 



In general, there are no ex -vessel prices 

 in Mexico. Shrimp are delivered to proc- 



