Aden 



June 7, 1948 



Report Mo. 4 - 5 - 



axperimants are being made with others ^ mainly the ^reen 

 snails from the Bast Indies o v,1ien the shells first are 

 brought in they are graded accoi^ding to sisSg sorted ^ and 

 soaked in water for se¥on days in order to extract all the 

 heat from them prior to cuttings There are at present 

 seventy«five cutting machines g some made in the company^ a 

 own shops ^ some imported from Asmara ^ Eritrea - where buttons 

 from Red Sea shells are being out and finished* Under full 

 operation some 500 - 600 people are employed - cutters » 

 sorters feeders ^ coolies^ etCo - but operation is irregular c 



After cutting^ the button forms are shipped out in bags 

 of about 150 gross each^ four bags to a case.* 



MTo Raymond Re Feinsteinp of London^ is the head of the 

 organi^ationg and the local managers are Mr© Robert Ceribellii, 

 General Manager § and MTo Polimeni GiO¥annij, V/orks Manager o 



OutK^ok Of the Ind ustry 



This sudden ^interest in Gulf of Aden fishing awakened in 

 the British Government may be looked upon as one of the 

 measures Britain^ in her post-^war financial straits g is search^ 

 ing for in order to build up her export trade § develop more 

 of an Empire self -suff iciencyi, develop her colonies financially 

 and aid them in the strengthening of their insufficient pro« 

 tein diet {vlzo ^ India and iiast iifrica)o Last year the Fisher- 

 ies Adviser to the British Secretary of State made what was 

 termed by the local authorities as a '^flying trip through the 

 Colonies'% and when asked where ^ to his knowledge^ might 

 England find the best fishing grounds g he emphatically replied^ 

 ^'The Gulf of Aden**o iiince then thre has been appointed to 

 Ad.en a Fisheries Officer,, a political officer - who necessarily 

 has command of the iy:*abic - language. - and two small pov/er boats 

 for research and charting v^ox^k^ Throughout there seems to be 

 an air of great enthusiasm o 



Local merchants have put inquiries to this Consulate con- 

 cerning fish reduction and processing equipment made in the 

 United States^ have requested information from Araerican govern- 

 ment agencies^ for they believe there to be a potent industry 

 lying dormant her© o The British Government has done cannery 

 research in the towns of Mukalla and iish Shihr^ and have dis- 

 covered that the fish oil and vitamin yeild is of a calibre 

 high enough to profitably merit productionc The fishing indus- 

 try along the southern Arabian coast is still under survey^ for 

 it is late in the season, and tM@ southwest monsoons are heroc 

 However^ Great Britain is planning to continue this survey in 

 September^ and soon thereafter there should be evidence of ?^hat 

 is to be done about the fishing industry in the Gulf of i^deno 



UHCLii^iilFIfiD 



