, 1893-07-15
A NEW INDUSTRY FOR
JAMAICA.

AAA. ~ 0i0 w. AdlAOp 49, . "AANAN~
who is in England just now, engaged in the
promotion Of a scheme for the development
OF the fishing industry, in his colony, belongs
to q family which has been settled in
Jamaica for close upon three centuries, so
that he may well be regarded as a ropre-
sentative man, as far AS the picturesque
'ISland Of Springs" is concerned. MI. Earle
has much manly geniality aad a tropical air
about him and is evidently o man of much
courage and perseverance. he has a bone Of
large prettnsions to pick with Sir Henry
Blake, the able Governor of Jamaica, who does
not give his official and moral support to the
project which Mr.. Earle has in hand. The
latter is free to admit, however, that in
a general way the Governor is a right good
fellow.
BY way of getting full particulars from
the fountain head as to the new industry
which is going to do so much for Jamaica,
our interviewer the other day called upon
Mr.. Earle and subjected him to q little friend
ly cross examination as to his doings in the
matter
"How far have YOU got with the scheme
already, Mr.. Earle ?"
Well, the company has just been regis
tered at Somerset Huuse, with a nominal
capital Of l,0OW., under the title of The
Jamaica and West India Fisheries Iimited).'
but this has merely been done to protect the
name. The actual capital will be 25,0OOl,, in
II. shares
Where do you propose to m
operations.?'
we shall make jam ica our centre for
the present, but we anticipate that in the
course of a few years or operations will be
extended over a large portion of tue Carib-
bean Sea-"
Nv here does the fish supply Of Jamaica
come f ON at the present time?
Jamaica imports some 81 600, 900 lbs.
of fish per annum from the north, for which
about 200, )O0l. a year is sent ont of the
Colony; but it actually costs the people.
say. double that amount before they can
consume the fish The people are great fish
eaters. They eat 81 lbs. weight of fish per
nunun per individual, of which 81 lbs. il
imported. They partake of three parts of
fish to one of other animal matter. At
present there il only n handful of fishermen
engaged in the industry, and the markets
are not adequately supplied with native fish.
Wherever native fish is to be had it is
snnpped up with avldity. The Jamaicans are
remarkably fond Of their OWN fish. but cmn>t
getit In the mlrkets Of the metropolitan
town of Kingston the minimum price of
nativs h4l il Sd per lb. The cost of the
imp )rLeN HHu Is ABOUT 9tH. 10 OUR pGL 10
The Object Of the company which / am form
ing in London is to supply native fish. for
which there is a vast demand, at about one
half the present rates-to supply the consul
mers with double the weight of food at the
same outlay Of money.
Can you give me any particulars about
the fishing grounds?
The banks available for fishing purposes
in the Caribbean Sea cover (say) 10000
to 80, coo square miles. On the south side of
Jamaica, within 81 or so miles of the coast,
is to be found the Pedro bank, of not less
thal 1900 square miles, a wonderful fishing
ground. On the southeast of the island is a
bank, known as Morant, of smaller extent,
but equally prolific in fish. Along the south
coast Of Jamaica, in shore, is located one
large fishing ground capable of supplying the
island with more fish than could be consumed
there. The population of Jamaica at the
present time is about 650,00) and that Of
Kingston $4,000. 1t Ia estimated that the
inhabitants of the capital consume upw ards of
100 lbs. per annum per individual of imported
fish. The Caribbean Sea is always quiet, and
fishing could be carried on there from
January to December without intermis-
sion" v4v
This new industry would be q great thing
for the West Indies p 3 assF,eE r..
0Haa,. noanv IF the atanIos .such an SuCAr