Regional Fishery Development in Central America

Although waters off the Central American isthmus appear to have fairly abundant fishery resources, until recently there had been no significant development of them for domestic consumption. Instead, considerable quantities of fish and fish products were imported from other parts of the world. The under-developed state of fishing activity were mostly due to lack of efficient fishery administrations, insufficient knowledge of available resources and methods of exploiting them, and lack of modern marketing systems. Since 1965, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as executing agency, has been cooperating with the Governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua in a regional project which aims at the strengthening and management of new fisheries, the improvement of processing and marketing techniques, and the carrying-out of an off-shore resource survey. For these purposes, UNDP is providing expert and consultant services, special equipment, fellowships and subcontracts.
A fishing boat from the port of Puntarenas sets out its nets.