Shrimp fishing is both important and lucrative.
The other main activities in this sector are livestock breeding and, most controversially, logging in Surinam's vast jungle interior. The timber is being exploited under a contract awarded to a Malaysian company, although the Government has come under pressure from the international environmental lobby to restrict the quantity. Mining, mainly of bauxite and more recently gold, is the principal industrial operation. There are also thought to be substantial reserves of iron ore, manganese, copper, nickel and platinum as well as moderate onshore oil deposits. Apart from processing ores and food products, the industrial sector is largely devoted to the manufacture of cigarettes, drinks and chemicals.