The Venezuelan coast falls naturally into three broadly different regions with environmental regimes which differ significantly and affects the composition and abundance of the fish resources: an eastern part of the north coast, the Oriente which covers the shelf from the Dragon’s Mouths to about Cabo Codera, a western part of the main coastline and the Gulf of Venezuela. The hydrographical and faunistic regimes governing the various parts of the shelf are described under chapter 2 above. Here it is only necessary to emphasize the main features of these different parts for which the resources will be described separately in the following: the Oriente with its broad shelf and favourable conditions for high production through upwelling represents the richest and most interesting part, the west coast has a narrow shelf and a generally low productivity and the Gulf of Venezuela has the characteristics of a shallow enclosed sea area.
