ALBA Fishing Co. weighs anchor

Venezuela: The first two ships from the Fishing Joint Venture of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) started operations on Saturday.

The aim of the mid-scale ships is to catch tuna and horse mackerel, Socialist Institute for Fishing and Agriculture (INOPESCA) Chair Gilberto Gimenez stated.

The plan is to create a 31 ship fleet of mid to long length to capture up to 100 tons of fish, Gimenez said.

This first two ships were bought from private Venezuelan proprietors, for the joint venture, in which the Venezuelan Agricultural Corporation has 51 percent of the shares and the Cuban Pescavante Company has 49 percent.

When the fleet is fully operational, it is expected to supply 25 percent of the fish consumed in Venezuela, besides supplying other markets in the region, from three port bases in Falcon, Vargas and Sucre states, the INSOPESCA executive noted.

The socialist fishing markets will open today, and people can buy food up to 15 bolivars ($6.97) a kilo, depending on the species.

Gimenez stated that the country will work to guarantee people this food through a socialist production structure that breaks paradigms of fishing as a business.

Caracas, Prensa Latina