THE TERRAPIN FISHERY. 



503 



Previous to the late war many men were employed and considerable capital involved in this fish- 

 ery. Several thousand dozen terrapins were shipped annually to the northern markets, and the fisher- 

 men received an average price of $6 per dozen for them. In 18GO the fishery appears to have been 

 at its height, both in point of men engaged and number of terrapins taken. During the war it. was 

 entirely discontinued, but in 1865 and 1866 it revived again and was carried on with considerable 

 enterprise. A few small vessels were sent from the North to engage in it, and several men, both 

 at Charleston and Savannah, fitted out a number of small craft for the purpose. A number of fish- 

 ermen, too, in the different localities owned boats, and shipped their catch either directly or through 

 dealers. 



In 1866 Capt. T. E. Fisher, of Savannah, with two boats and six men, secured 653 dozen, and 

 in the same year Capt. David Kemp caught 870 doeen, and several others did equally well. In 

 addition to the catch of the boat fishermen, many were picked up along the shore during the 

 breeding season, so that the total number taken during the year must have reached 5,000 or 6,000 

 dozen. 



3. STATISTICS OF THE FISHERY. 



The number, weight, and value of terrapin taken in 1880 in the Atlantic States. 



