{"Bibliographic":{"Title":"Fisheries of Venezuela, 1970-71","Authors":"","Publication date":"1973","Publisher":""},"Administrative":{"Date created":"08-20-2023","Language":"English","Rights":"CC 0","Size":"0000010437"},"Pages":["HD\n9450\nF6\n20-73-13\nA UNITED STATES\nDEPARTMENT OF\nForeign Fisheries Leaflet No. 73-13\nCOMMERCE\nPUBLICATION\nO\nOF\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE\nNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\nNational Marine Fisheries Service\nSTATUS\nOF\nFISHERIES OF VENEZUELA, 1970-71\nWilliam B. Folsom\nInternational\nActivities\nStaff\nWASHINGTON, D.C.\nJune 1973","FISHERIES OF VENEZUELA, 1970-71\nWilliam B. Folsom\nINTRODUCTION\nThe 1971 Venezuelan fisheries catch was 138,900 metric tons valued\nat US$28,862,000. This is an increase of 10 percent in quantity, but a\n12-percent decrease in value when compared with the 1970 catch of\n126,400 tons worth $33 million. Shrimp landings of 9,400 tons were the\nmost valuable, accounting for $10.7 million.\nDuring 1970-71, the Government and industry worked together to\ndevelop and expand the fisheries of Venezuela. To achieve their goals,\nthey concentrated on developing new fishing ports, enlarging the fleet,\nand building new processing facilities. The Venezuelan Government was\nparticularly interested in developing the underutilized resources at\nthe mouth of the Orinoco River in the eastern region.\nWilliam B. Folsom is with the International Activities Staff, National\nMarine Fisheries Service, NOAA. This report is based on information\nsupplied by Larry G. Butcher, Economic Officer at the Embassy of the\nUnited States in Caracas, Venezuela, and from Raymond C. Griffiths and\nJohn G. Simpson's, An Evaluation of the Present Levels of Exploitation\nof the Fishery Resources of Venezuela, Oficina Nacional de Pesa,\nMinisterio de Agricultura y Cria, Republic of Venezuela, 1972.","MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS\nBoth the Venezuelan Government and the fishing industry are seeking\nto increase and diversify the number of seafood products available for\nlocal consumption and export. To achieve this goal, they are expanding\ntheir fishing ports, fleets, and processing facilities. New investments\nare being concentrated in the two most productive fishing regions in the\nnorthwest (states of Zulia and Falcon) and in the northeast (state of\nSucre).\nPorts:\nThe new, 10.5-million fishing port of Guiria in eastern Venezuela--\nacross from neighboring Port-of-Spain, Trinidad -was inaugurated in June\n1972. The port was designed to attract large fishing vessels, with the\nexpectation that they would fish the rich waters around the mouth of the\nOrinoco River. The port includes over 500,000 square meters of protected\nwater, eight docks, an ice plant, a dry-dock, cold-storage, and service\nfacilities. A 2,500-ton packing plant with freezer-storage and ship re-\npair facilities will be completed during the next stage of construction.\nIn addition to this port, a new dock and ice plant are being built by\nthe Venezuelan Development Corporation at Punto Fijo, on the Paraguana\nPeninsula. Finally, the Development Corporation of the state of Zulia\nplans to construct a new fishing port on Lake Maracaibo.\nVessels:\nThe port expansion program is being accompanied by a rapid increase\nin vessel construction, primarily in medium-to-large vessels. The build-\nup of the fleet will increase the size of the shrimp fleet at Punto Fijo\n(in the Gulf of Venezuela) from 119 vessels in 1969 to around 150 vessels\nin 1972; 20 to 50 additional trawlers are expected to join that fleet in\n1973. Vessels are also being constructed for the fleet based at the Port\nof Guiria where the Ministry of Agriculture has begun building 30 fishing\ntrawlers, each 15 meters in length, for use by low-income fishermen and\ncooperatives. Construction of 22-meter vessels is expected to begin in 1973.\nProcessing Facilities:\nThe development of Venezuela's fisheries has been spurred by the\naddition of several new processing plants in the past few years. The newest\nand largest Venezuelan processor and exporter of shrimp is the Associacion\nVenezolana Camaronera, S.A. (AVENCASA) at Punto Fijo; AVENCASA was\nestablished in 1968 by independent boat owners who, although residing in\nPunto Fijo, had previously unloaded their catches in Maracaibo for pro-\ncessing. The cooperative now has 130 shrimp vessels averaging 150 tons\neach and employs 480 workers. AVENCASA's annual sales for 1970 were\nUS$10.3 million.\n-2-","Several other processing plants were also established in 1967-68.\nThey include Frigomar in Maracaibo, Pesca S.A. in Maracaibo, and Productos\ndel Mar in Punto Fijo; all process shrimp and crabs. Vichar de Coche on\nMargarita was also established in 1968; this firm processes fish meal and\ncans sardines.\nEstablishment of these firms has resulted in the closing of some\nother firms. Several companies have stopped operations, primarily because\nof mismanagement and overexpansion; others were affected by the establish-\nment of AVENCASA. In the long run, however, these new companies should\nincrease fishery sales through greater efficiency and service.\nCATCH\nThe Venezuelan fisheries catch has shown a steady long-term increase\nmarked by short-term fluctuations over the past two decades. Figure 1\nshows this growth.\nSardines:\nSardines are Venezuela's most abundant species, with landings averaging\naround 40,000 tons per year. The 1971 catch of Spanish sardines (Sardinella\nanchovia) was 44,300 tons. They were mainly caught along the southeastern\ncoast of the island of Margarita, the northern coast of the Araya Peninsula,\nand off the coast of the state of Sucre (fig. 2). The Venezuelans also\ncaught 9,100 tons of Atlantic thread herring and 3,400 tons of anchovies.\nThe combined catch of sardines, thread herring, and anchovies, totaling\n56,800 tons, was valued at US$920,000. Most of this catch was either canned\nor reduced to fish meal.\nShrimp:\nAlthough sardines are the most abundant species, shrimp is the most\nvaluable. In 1971 some 9,400 tons of shrimp valued at US$10.7 million were\ncaught.\nShrimp are caught by the Maracaibo and Punto Fijo fleets in the Gulf\nof Venezuela (fig. 2). The Punto Fijo fleet generally harvests brown\nshrimp (Penaeus aztecus, P. duorarum, and P. brasiliensis), while the\nMaracaibo fleet tends to harvest white shrimp (P. schmitti). Apparently\nthe white shrimp constitutes one stock; the juveniles are found in Lake\nMaracaibo and adults in the Gulf of Venezuela. The brown shrimp apparently\nspend their entire life cycle in the Gulf. Fishing effort (1965-71) and\ntotal catch have both increased during the past 7 years, but the catch per\nunit of effort has decreased during that period, from 420 kg to 160 kg\nper day for white shrimp and from 170 kg to 130 kg per day for brown\nshrimp. The Chamber of Commerce of Carirubana, Punto Fijo, the home of\n-3-","the major shrimping fleet and site of most of the processing plants,\nhas asked for some controls on shrimping in the Gulf of Venezuela.\nThe development of the port facilities in eastern Venezuela is expected\nto draw some shrimpers away from this heavily fished region to different\nwaters. 1/\nTuna:\nVenezuela's 1971 tuna catch totaled 8,000 tons valued at US$3.3 million.\nThis fishery began in the late 1950's and relies heavily on yellowfin tuna,\nwhich normally accounts for 70 percent of all tuna landings. Albacore (25\npercent) and bigeye (5 percent) generally account for the rest of the tuna\ncatch; small catches of black and bluefin tuna are made occasionally.\nSkipjack has also been caught on occasion, but the Venezuelan market is\nnot yet willing to accept this species. About 70 percent of Venezuela's\ntuna catch is landed along the northeastern coast where it is sold to\ncanneries. The rest is landed at La Guaira for the fresh-fish market in\nCaracas.\nIn mid-1972 several foreign vessels (unidentified) fished for tuna\nalong the northeast coast of Venezuela, with the permission of the National\nFisheries Office, and reported catching 463 tons of yellowfin and 120 tons\nof skipjack.\nOther Fish:\nA sizable amount of fish is landed in Lake Maracaibo and along the\n1,750-mile coastline of Venezuela. Various species of redfish, including\ngrunts and croakers, accounted for 25,600 tons valued at US$6.8 million.\nLandings of jacks, mullets, scads, moonfish, and other species were 10,800\ntons worth $2.4 million. Mackerel landings were 1,900 tons worth $271,000.\nLandings of freshwater fish, including catfish and lake corvinas, were\n14,600 tons valued at US$2.0 million.\nThe shrimp fleet or the growing trawl fleet makes most of the catches.\nThe trawl fleet began operations in 1960, with two or three vessels fish-\ning. In 1966 the number of vessels in this fishery began increasing. By 1971\na total of 60 vessels were engaged in trawling. The two main bases for the\nVenezuelan trawl fleet are Cumana and Puerto La Cruz. The Cumana fleet\ngenerally prefers to fish the waters around the island of Margarita, whereas\nthe Puerto La Cruz fleet fishes along the coasts of Anzoategui and Miranda\nstates.\n1/ Additional information on the shrimp fisheries of Venezuela can be found\nin George B. Gross' report, \"Shrimp Industry of Central America, Caribbean\nSea, and Northern South America,\" National Marine Fisheries Service,\nForeign Fisheries Leaflet No. 73-1, pp. 31-34, January 1973.\n-4-","Mollusks and Crustaceans:\nUntil 1957 the catch of \"pepitona\" (Arca zebra or ark shell) did not\nexceed 600 tons (unshucked). This fishery has grown steadily, and Venezuela\nnow ranks as the number one producer of ark shell in the world. The 1971\nharvest was estimated 4,130 tons by Venezuelan officials. Most of this\nproduction comes from the island of Margarita and from the northeastern\ncoast of the island of Cubagua. The normal catch rate is about 1, ,000 kg.\nper hour of dredging.\nLobster, oyster, scallops, clams, crabs, and mussels are also harvested\nby\nVenezuelan fishermen, but these resources appear to be fished near their\nmaximum sustainable yield and Venezuelan authorities are concerned about\nthe future growth of these fisheries.\n-5-","140\n130\n120-\n110\nother\n100\n90.\n80.\n70\nlake corvina\n601\nshrimp\nthread\nherring\n50\n40\n30\nsardines\n20-\n10\n1953\n1960\n1970\nFigure 1. - - Venezuela's catch, 1953-71.\n6- -","0\nCARIACO\nCOLOMBIA"]}