BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 4G7 



The ,sJiad Jlshcri/. — The river lisberies oi' conmiercitil importance are 

 conliued to the Saint John's Kiver, where shad are taken by gill-nets in 

 considerable nnnibers. The season for shad being earlier hero than at 

 other points on the Atlantic coast the catch is sometimes very i)rofit- 

 ablc to the fishermen, and many men look to this fishery for support. 

 During the last few years, however, the catch has been small, and the 

 supi)ly seems to be somewhat exhausted. 



The oyster fishery. — There is a large supply of good oysters, it being 

 estimated that there are more than 12,800 acres of edible oysters in the 

 waters of Florida. They occur in natural beds in the salt and brackish 

 waters of the bays of the northern parts of the State, on the east and 

 the west coasts. Along the shores of the southern part of the peninsula 

 are large reefs of a small oyster known as " coon oyster" or " tree oys- 

 ter," the latter name referring to their growing upon the tide-washed 

 roots of the mangrove. These oysters are so small that they have no 

 commercial value. The only method of gathering oysters in Florida is 

 by using the ordinary oyster-tongs. Api)alachicola has recently been 

 doing a thriving business in canning the excellent oysters of that vicin- 

 ity. Most of the fresh oysters of Florida are consumed locally. 



Pensacola, Fla., October 15, 1885. 



tSS.-NOTES ON THE UISTOKY OF PREl'ARIIVC: FBSM FOK IflARKET 



BIT FKEEZINO. 



By A. HOWARD CLARK. 



For very many years in Eussia and in other cold countries fish and 

 meats have been frozen for market by exposure iu the open air or by 

 freezing them en masse in ice. In Thibet as early as 1800 the flesh of 

 animals was preserved frost-dried — not frozen — and in that condition 

 would keep, without salt, for several months. 



In the United States ice was first used for the preservation of fish 

 about the year 1842, and in 1845 fishing- vessels began to take ice to 

 preserve their catch. At first they were careful to keep the ice separate 

 from the fish, piling it in a corner of the hold, but they soon began pack- 

 ing the fish in broken ice. The inland trade in fresh fish had, up to that 

 time, been very limited, but soon increased, and it was not many j-ears 

 before boxes of fish packed in ice were shipped far inland. 



The trade in fish frozen by artificial means began about the year 18G1, 

 when Enoch Piper, of Camden, Me., obtained a patent (No. 3173G) for 

 a method of preserving fish or other articles in a close chamber by means 

 of a freezing mixture having no contact with the atmosphere of the 

 preserving chamber. The patent was issued iu March, 1801. Mr. 

 Piper states that the most important application of his invention is for 

 the preservation of salmon, which had heretofore been preserved in a 

 fresh state only by being packed in barrels with crushed ice, which ou 



