August 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



67 



Mexico (Contd.): 



Table 2 - Mexico's Principal Gulf Ports Show 

 Lower Shrimp Landings, First Quarter 1966 and 1965 



Port 



First Quarter 1 



1966 1 1965 



1966 1 1965 



Ciudad del Carmen 



Campeche 



. (1,000 

 1,383 

 613 

 158 



Kilos). 



1,580 



894 



151 



. (1,000 Lbs.) . 

 3,043 3,476 

 1,349 1,967 

 348 332 





essing plants on consignment and vessels 

 share whatever the eventual sales price may 

 be on the United States market. Part pay- 

 ment is made at time of unloading pending 

 final settlenaent. 



No data are available on processed prod- 

 ucts. All shrimp for export is frozen either 

 as heads -off shelled, or peeled individually fro- 

 zen, butterfly, with a small quantity breaded. 



As customary, virtually all exports are to 

 the United States. Because shrimp exports 

 to the United States are such an important 

 part of Mexican foreign trade, the Depart- 

 ment of Statistics of the Secretariat of In- 

 dustry and Commerce includes them in its 

 "Principal Economic Indicators." Accord - 

 ingto its recent preliminary figures, shrimp 

 exports during the first quarter of 1 966 were 

 valued at 119.9 millionpesos (US$9.6 million), 

 up 16.5 percent from 1965's 102.8 million, 

 (IJS$8.23 million), which in turn was down 

 25.5 percent from 1964 when they were 

 valued at 137.9 million (US$11 million). 



Fig. 3 - A few of Ciudad del Carmen's 250 shrimp trawlers. 



The marketing situation early in 1966 was 

 good as far as the producers are concerned. 

 Prices and demand were at high levels in 

 both the United States and Mexico. Producers 

 are looking forward to moving all the shrimp 

 they can obtain in the forseeable future. 



The most encouraging trend is the im- 

 provement of catches in the northern part 

 of the Pacific Coast, which is by far the 

 greatest producing area and where the larg- 

 est decline has taken place in recent years. 



After several years of overbuilding, fol- 

 lowed by a decline in production accompanied 

 by continual strife between boat owners and 

 crews, the construction of new vessels (ex- 

 cept for export) virtually ceased. Hence, the 

 fleet as a whole is becoming obsolete as 

 compared to the fleets of other countries 

 that are competing for the United States 

 market. Generally speaking, the older 



Fig. 4 - Close-up of typical shrimp trawler operating out of 

 Ciudad del Carmen. 



Mexican vessels are not capable of fishing 

 in deep water and hence cannot expand the 

 present grounds. Without new replacements 

 the fleet cannot be expected to increase pro- 

 duction. However, a few new vessels are 

 now under construction in Gulf ports, and 

 the National Bank for the Development of 

 Cooperatives is about to build ten very large 

 vessels for deep-water trawling in an effort 

 to convert its pilot fishing port at Alvarado 

 into a shrimp port. These developments 

 should maintain catches in Gulf of Mexico 

 waters at a maximum level. (Regional Fish- 

 eries Attache, U. S. Embassy, Mexico, June 

 25, 1966.) 



FISHING LIMIT OF 12 MILES PROPOSED: 



The President of Mexico is said to have 



proposed that a law be formulated for sub- 



