48 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 11 



Chile 



FISH MEAL AND OIL PRODUCTION SOAR 



From January through July 1966, total 

 production of fish raeal was 151,356 tons-- 

 double the total annual production of 1965 

 (70,580 tons) and nearly equal to the annual 

 production of 1964 (156,638 tons). 



The anchovy catch in northern Chile dur- 

 ing July 1966 reached 91,781 metric tons-- 

 compared to 12,100 tons in 1965 and 36,800 

 tons in 1964. Tlje port of Arica handled 75 

 percent; Iquique 25 percent. The catch from 

 January to July 1966 was 834,700 tons of an- 

 chovy, compared to 281,259 tons in 1965. 



Arica continues as the most active area. 

 The fishing zones are located between 2 and 

 30 miles in Corazones (facing the port) and 

 Chacalluta. Part of the Iquique fleet also op- 

 erated there. In Iquique, the fishing sites 

 most used were: Punta Quera, Chipana, 

 Caleta Buena, San Marcos, and Punta Pichalo. 

 During July, the 7 Arica plants operated for 

 average of 17 working days; Iquique 's 18 

 plants operated for average of 9 days. Two 

 plants in Pisagua, 3 in Iquique, and 1 in 

 Tocopilla did not operate. 



Production of fish meal from anchovy dur- 

 ing July 1966 was 17,600 metric tons, com- 

 pared with 2,190 tons in 1965 and 6,980 tons 

 in 1964. The average yield during July was 

 1 ton of meal to 5.2 tons of anchovy. 



Prices paid for anchovy in July fluctuated 

 betweenEO 52 (US$12.50) and EO 56 (US$13.50) 

 a metric ton. 



Fish meal production in July from species 

 other than anchovy --hake, sardine, and jack 

 mackerel--was 2,000 metric tons. It brought 

 1966 production of this type of fish meal to 

 17,700 tons for the first 7 months, compared 

 to 14,600 tons in 1965 during same period. 



Oil produced during July was 1,670 tons, 

 compared with 42 tons in 1965 and 900 tons 

 in July 1964. The average yield of oil was 

 1.8 percent. Production of fish oil during the 

 first 7 months of 1966 was 16,164 tons, com- 

 pared to 5,838 tons during same 1965 period. 

 (U. S. Embassy, Santiago, September 7. 1966.) 



HER RICHES ARE JUST OFF COASTS- - 

 BUT FAR FROM MARKETS 



Chile covers the southwest coast of South 

 America, reaching all the way into the Ant- 

 arctic waters of the Magellen straits. It is 

 2,600 miles long and averages 150 miles 

 wide. The southernmost thousand miles are 

 a maze of channels and islands similar to 

 the fjords of Norway. These extend for more 

 than 700 miles and end in windswept Chilean 

 Patagonia. 



The land's configuration is vitally impor- 

 tant to Latin America's future. The very 

 fragmentation of the coast in the south pro- 

 vides one of the greatest, relatively undevel- 

 oped fishing grounds on earth. And in the very 

 near future it will have to be exploited. Dr. 

 Hernan Santa Cruz, Assistant Director-Gen- 

 eral for Latin American Affairs, United Na- 

 tions Food and Agriculture Organization 

 (FAO) has said: ^'In the next 20 years this 

 region's population will increase from 200 to 

 360 million. . .the total demand for agricul- 

 tural products will have doubled by 1980." 

 However, there is an alternative to this im- 

 mense and very nearly impossible growth in 

 agriculture --fish. That is why officials of 

 the Freedom from Hunger Campaign (FFHC) 

 have begun to look to Southern Chile, 



But Latin America's "fisheries alterna- 

 tive" poses a problem. Although the region's 

 fisheries production rose nearly 10 times be- 

 tween 1952 and 1962 --compared with 68 per- 

 cent in the rest of the world- -most of the fish 

 were not caught for human consumption. Al- 

 most all protein wrested from the sea was 

 used in fish meal for animal feed and was ex- 

 ported to North American and European coun- 

 tries to earn considerable foreign exchange. 

 According to one scientist's estimate, George 

 Borstrom's, four -fifths of the protein pro- 

 duced by fisheries along the North and South 

 American coasts is being used for animal 

 feeding in North America and Western Euro- 

 pe, which consume 2 to 3 times as much pro- 

 tein as Chile and Peru. 



The Anchovy Dominates Production 



The explanation is that anchovy accounts 

 for most of the fish produced in western Latin 

 America. The anchovy is almost never used 

 for anything but poultry and stock food in the 

 form of fish meal. The producing countries 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Sep. No. 775 



