574 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



they receive for canning is the wild "reefer" oyster, that grows in immense profusion all along the 

 coast of Mississippi. 



STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES. In the fisheries of Mobile it is estimated that there are 

 $25,500, in all, invested ; $22,500 in the fisheries proper, and the other $3,000 in the oyster business. 



The market prices paid to the fishermen are, for red snappers, groupers, &c., 3 or 4 cents a 

 pound; for mullet, trout, redfish, &c., $2 to $15 per basket, equal to about 2 to 15 cents a pound. 

 The oysters range from 75 cents to $1.75 a barrel, "reefers" selling for 75 cents a barrel; small 

 "plants" and "sharpers," $1 ; plants, $1.50; selected plants, $1.75. 



D. THE FISHERIES OF MISSISSIPPI. 



207. STATISTICAL RECAPITULATION. 



Summary statement of persons employed. 



Persons employed. 



Number. 



Fisherm en 110 



Shoremen 76 



Total 186 



Detailed statement of capital invested and apparatus employed. 



Apparatus specified. Number. Value. 



Boats 58 $4,600 



Other apparatus, including outfits '. 1,600 



Canneries and other shore property 2,600 



Total 58 8,800 



Detailed statement of the quantities and values of the products. 



Products specified. Pounds. 



Mullet 1,500 $60 



Oysters 175,000 10,000 



All other species 612,000 12,480 



Total 788,500 22,540 



208. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERIES. 



MEN AND METHODS. The majority of the three hundred fishermen on the coast of Mississippi 

 are engaged in the oyster business and fish for the New Orleans market, using boats and nets 

 belonging to that city. Sixty more are engaged in fishing and oystering for Mississippi dealers. 



There is only one fish dealer in the State, and he is the station agent at Biloxi. 



There are four seiues owned in the State which are used by professional fishermen, and the 

 number of trammel or gill-nets thus used is seven. The seines are used about the islands and 

 shoals and the trammel nets in the rivers, bayous, and bay channels. Those fishing for New 

 Orleans, Mobile, or their town market, fish chiefly with seines, and, for the most part, catch red- 

 fish, trout, mullet, sheepshead, drum, and croakers. Those fishing Jor the inland shippers use 



