duction of whale oil in the islands and the continent was valued at 20,109,000 escudos ($808,382). The whale products other than oil are of relatively small valuein 1948, they were worth 1,380,000 escudos ($55,476).

The Portuguese production of sperm whale oil represents slightly less than onetenth of the world's total production (table 5).

other byproducts. Only one firm is engaged in the business with head offices at Setubal and a branch office in Lisbon. This firm has 3 vessels all equipped with modern whale hunting devices, including cannon for the shooting of harpoons. One of these vessels is a motor-driven ketch purchased in Norway and the other two are converted sardine boats known locally as "traineiras." In addition to this small fleet and fishing gear, the firm has a factory at the mouth of the Sado River near Setubal for the processing of the whales caught and also a small installation at Sacavem near Lisbon for the treatment of edible finback whale oil. It employs 40 men on its vessels and about 200 men at the two factories. Total investment is calculated at approximately 10,500,000 escudos ($363,300).

Fishing operations are carried out from March to November but, in conformity with the International Whaling Agreement to which Portugal is a party, they do not extend over more than six months during the year on a daily basis. Fishing is carried out on the continental shelf south of Setubal as far down as Cape St. Vincent but does not extend more than 10-15 miles off shore. Once the whales are harpooned and killed they are towed into Setubal for processing. The whaling grounds are regularly traversed by whales swimming north along the Portuguese coast and they are normally present in fairly abundant numbers.

According to the official statistics, 597 men were engaged in whaling in the Azores and Madeira islands in 1947, operating 26 whale-hunting units, consisting of 121 boats with a total tonnage of 471 metric tons. At present, there are about 33 units (armacoes) operating, consisting of approximately 150 small boats manned by 800 men. Whale fishing is carried on from all the islands of the Azores but centers on the islands of Pico and Faial where about 70 whaling boats have their home ports. At present there are four factories for the processing of the catch with the islands of Flores, Pico, Faial, and Sao Miguel each possessing one. Two more are under construction, one in Pico and one in Madeira. Total capital invested in the industry in the Azores and Madeira is estimated at 20,000,000 ($692,000). Fishing is carried on in the old-time manner of harpooning the whales from small boats and no modern equipment or cannons are utilized.

4

Besides the extraction of oil, the whale industry also produce s whale meat for human consumption, either fresh, in brine, or canned. Fresh whale meat is consumed entirely in the Azores, and in the Setubal-Lisbon area as far as the continental area is concerned. The small amount of canned whale meat produced is exported principally to France. Whale meat meal and whale bone meal is used for cattle feed and most of the local production is exported, principally to Germany and Belgium. Residues remaining from the treatment of the whales are used in Portugal for fertilizer.

A Government delegate to the corporative fishing organization addressed the National Assembly at the end of 1949 on the economic crisis of the whale fishing industry, brought about by the decline in foreign demand for sperm whale oil. After describing the difficult situation of the industry and the danger that the capital invested in it might be lost if present conditions continue, he called for the Government to step in and extend financial assistance and relief both to the operators and the fishermen.

At the present time Portugal has a stock of about 4,000 tons of sperm whale oil for which no foreign markets can be found. To provide an outlet for some of this surplus, the Government has recently approved the mixing of 1,000 tons of it with gas oil sold for fuel on the continent. The Government is paying the owners of the oil for the difference in price for the thousand tons thus utilized. Because of the large surplus of sperm oil existing and the limited amount which can be absorbed by such expedients, it is anticipated that fishing for sperm whales will be greatly reduced in 1950 if it is not stopped altogether.

A decree published in the Diario Do Governo of September 11 exempts whale and sperm oil from export duty, as a means of relieving the crisis in the industry. World markets for whale oil are reported, however, to have improved recently to such an extent that the need for the relief is less urgent than it was a few months ago, a September 15 American Embassy dispatch from Lisbon reports. The exemption is also intended to facilitate shipment of whale oil to foreign countries for hydrogenation, there being no hydrogenating equipment in Portugal; a separate clause provides for a reduction of 50 percent from the minimum duty on hydrogenated oil reimported by the leading manufacturer of margarine and vegetable lard, if made from raw oil exported by that company.

EXPERIMENTAL USE OF HELICOPTER FOR WHALE FISHING: Early in April 1950 experiments in whale hunting were carried out off the Portuguese coast with a helicopter. The British helicopter, which carries three persons, has facilities for the launching of harpoons from the air and is expected to be extremely effective in locating and killing whales at sea. Its maximum speed is 100 miles an hour. If the experiments come up to anticipations, the Portuguese whaling firm on the Continent is expected to purchase one of these helicopters for its own use.

Exports: Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium-Luxembourg, and France (in that order) were the principal importers of Portuguese canned fish. Belgium was the principal purchaser of sardines, followed closely by the United Kingdom, and substantial quantities were imported by Italy and France, with the United States in fifth place. The United Kingdom was the principal purchaser of chinchards; Belgium of mackerel; Italy of tuna; and the United States of anchovies.

The possibility of expanding exports of sardines to the United States is conditioned by other factors than the exchange rate. Most important is the American tariff

Portuguese Exports of Canned Fish in Oil (Trade Statistics), 1949

Total Exports

Escudos

U.S.$

295,302,000

11,457,718

14,195,000

550,766

11,332,000

439,682

Tuna and similar species

68,963

4,358,512

53,573,000

2,078,632

189,556

3,188 145,777 Total 1,357,811 51,422,118 458,659,000 17,795,969 1/100-club cans (30 mm. size), each can containing 4 oz.

on sardines. About 95 percent of Portugal's exports of sardines to the United States consist of the boneless and boneless-skinless types which are packed chiefly as a specialty for the American market. These enter the United States at an ad-valorem duty of 30 percent. Norwegian canned brislings, on the other hand, pay 15 percent ad-valorem duty as the result of a reduction in the applicable rate under the GATT program. The competitive disadvantage at which the Portuguese products has been placed in the United States is of serious concern to local exporters.

The Canned Fish Institute, as a result of a visit of one of its directors to the United States in 1948 to study the market for sardines, has drawn up a plan promoting American sales and has collected approximately $100,000 from its members for this purpose. However, nothing has yet been done to implement this scheme pending decision by the Government as to what form Portugal's projected over-all port promotion program should take.

dollar ex

Exports of anchovies in 1949 reached one of the highest levels in recent years and might have done much to compensate for the deficit in sardines if the competition among Portuguese exporters had not depressed prices to unremunerative levels. Thus, the price of $11.00 per case for fillets of anchovies, prevailing in April of 1949, was forced down to as low as $7.00 per case at the close of the year. The same situation occurred with respect to the export price of canned mackerel.

Exports of canned tuna fell 28 percent in volume and 19,500,000 escudos (U.S.$756,600) in value in relation to 1948, due to a marked decline in exports to the United States and Italy which were not compensated by increased purchases by the United Kingdom. Italian purchases declined because of the difficulty in obtaining exchange, large offerings of Spanish tuna in that market, and competition from a new source-refrigerated tuna imported from Norway and Denmark. In the United States, the importation of Japanese tuna practically eliminated the possibility of effective competition far as the Portuguese product was concerned.

Exports of fish in brine in 1949 (output of the coastal fisheries) totaled 466 metric tons--411 tons of sardines and 55 tons of other species. 55 tons of other species. Greece was the principal market for sardines in brine, taking 273 tons. The value of exports of fish in brine, 3,559,000 escudos ($138,089), was far below the value for the 1948 exports, which were valued at 27,500,000 escudos ($1,105,500).

Frozen fish exports in 1949 amounted to 259 tons, valued at 4,144,000 escudos ($160,787). These consisted mainly of octopus (120 tons) and sardines (93 tons). The United States was the principal market, taking 161 tons of the total. However,

the recently established frozen fish industry suffered a marked reduction in its exports in 1949, chiefly because Argentina, hitherto the principal market, has prohibited the entry of the Portuguese frozen fish.

Fresh fish exports were negligible in 1949--72 tons, valued at 606,000 escudos (U.S.$23,513), were supplied to foreign ships in Portuguese ports.

In addition, Portugal exported the following fishery byproducts during 1949 (according to official statistics): 2,752 tons of fish meal to the United States; 1,489 tons of sardine oil (1,327 tons to Germany, 139 tons to Norway, and 27 tons to Czechoslovakia); 1,031 tons of sperm whale oil (695 tons to France, 205 tons to Holland, 105 tons to Denmark, and 26 tons to other countries); 156 tons of finback whale oil to Germany; and 58 tons of cod-liver oil to the United States. (Also trade sources report that the exports of cod-liver oil probably totaled 500 tons).

Imports: Portugal imported 27,609 metric tons of fresh and dried cod during 1949, valued at 257,172,000 escudos (U.S.$9,978,274). Imports by country of origin in metric tons were as follows: Norway 9,785; Newfoundland 5,497; Denmark 5,124; Iceland 3,252; France 3,222; Greenland 549; England 180. Imports from Norway, Newfoundland, and the United Kingdom were fresh cod (preserved with salt or ice).

Imports of fish of the same varieties caught in the domestic sardine fishery during 1949 amounted to 390 tons, valued at 2,619,000 escudos (U.S. $101,617) and consisted mainly of tuna in brine from the Portuguese African colonies, Spain, and French Morocco.

Fresh fish imports in 1949 amounted to 1,606 tons, valued at 10,246,000 escudos (U.S.$397,545). The bulk (1,138 tons) was imported from Spain and the balance from French Morocco and Tangier,

Consumption: In one form or another, fish is a very basic element in the Portugue se diet. Dried cod is by far the most important staple of the diet. Annual consumption of dried cod amounts to around 60,000 tons. In recent years, there has been an increasing use of salted fish (salted sardines and chinchards). The amount of can

ned fish consumed in Portugal is small because fish packers operate predominantly for export. The annual consumption of fish is reported to be about 2 times the combined consumption of beef, pork, sheep, goats, and poultry.

NOTE: VALUES IN U.S. DOLLARS SHOWN THROUGHOUT THIS ARTICLE ARE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING RATES OF EXCHANGE: 1950--1 PORTUGUESE ESCUDO EQUALS 3.46 U.S. CENTS; 1949--1 ESCUDO EQUALS 3.88 U.S. CENTS; 1948--1 ESCUDO EQUALS 4.02 U.S. CENTS.

FISHERY BYPRODUCTS INDUSTRY:

Spain

Introduction:

The fishing industry of Spain is not only one of the country's important economic resources, but one of the leading sources of its food supply. The Spanish fishing fleet is composed of some 37,500 units of many types (from row boats to steam-propelled vessels), with a gross tonnage of about 210,000 metric tons, a February 28 American consular dispatch from Vigo reports.

The annual catch of the fishing fleet is estimated at about 500,000 metric tons, of which about 25 percent is said to be processed in the 200 odd canning and pickling plants operating in Spain.

Importance of Fishery Byproducts: In spite of the abundance of raw material, the processing of fish waste was not attempted in Spain until about 1935 when the manufacture of fish meal from the residue of the canneries was undertaken by one of the largest local fish canners, one of whose members spent some time in the United States studying the industrial processing of fish byproducts. Until then, fish scrap and waste, after the fish oil had been extracted, was either dumped into the sea or sold as fertilizer. The peak of the fishing season coincides with the period during which fertilizer is in demand. Because of the scarcity and high cost of nitrogen fertilizers, the agricultural industry continues to be the fish meal industry's biggest competitor for fish residue.

The value of fish byproducts was soon realized and the processing there of was steadily stepped up. However, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 and the dislocation of normal sources of supply caused by the outbreak of World War II, which followed the end of the Civil War in 1939, prevented any further development. The plants that were established continue, therefore, to operate with the same machinery and equipment that was originally installed in 1935.

Raw Material Used in Fish Reduction Plants: Mostly fish scrap and waste are processed by reduction plants. While the following calculations on the quantities of fish scrap and waste that are available for processing may not be considered too reliable, they may be of some value in appraising the situation. Of the roughly 125,000 tons of fresh fish that are normally available to the canneries, and picklers and smokers annually, 60 percent are purchased by the former and 40 percent by the picklers and smokers.

Fish waste and scrap from picklers and smokers is disposed of as fertilizer, after the fish oil has been extracted. Therefore, the amount of material that would normally be available for processing in fish-meal plants should average 22,500 tons, since fish residue represents, roughly, 30 percent of the weight of the fish purchased by the canneries. The greater part of this amount, however, is at present sold as fertilizer.

The bulk of the fish scrap and waste processed in fish meal plants comes from sardines (pilchard) and jurel (Trachurus trachurus), and to a lesser extent from bonito (albacore)--the principal varieties used by the canneries.

The scarcity of these varieties during the past two or three years also greatly reduced the possibility of any expansion of the fish-meal processing industry due to its complete dependence on the canneries.

Because fish meal must reach the market at prices within the limited purchasing power of the farmers, fish-meal processors have found the processing of even the cheapest fish specimens uneconomical. Only on the very rare occasions when the price of jurel has fallen below pesetas 0.40 per kilo (about $1.66 per cwt.) at first sale, have fish meal processors purchased substantial quantities of this variety for processing.

Fish Reduction Season:

Spanish fish meal plants are prepared to work all year round. The busiest months of the year, however, are from the latter part of August to the end of the year, which are the months of the heaviest catches of sardines and jurel.

Fish Meal Production: According to the largest fish-meal processing company in Spain, from 16 to 18 tons of fish meal are obtained from 100 metric tons of fish