FISHERIES OF KEY WEST. 41 



East coast counties : Pounds. 



St. John 1,510 



St. Lucie 1 696, 721 



Palm Beach 1, 493, 319 



Dade 870, 415 



Total 3, 061, 965 



West coast counties : 



Escambia 124, 076 



Okaloosa 147, 297 



Bay 508, 784 



Calhoun 19, 994 



Franklin 53, 809 



Wakulla 750 



Levy 23, 950 



Pinellas 8, 176 



Manatee 147, 463 



De Soto 278, 355 



Lee 57, 971 



Monroe 2, 065, 276 



Total . 3, 435, 901 



The total catch for the State of Florida was 6,497,866 pounds, with 

 a value to the fishermen of about 6 cents a pound. Practically the 

 entire catch of Monroe County was landed at Key West. 



During each of the seasons 1918-19 and 1919-20 the first commer- 

 cial catch of Spanish mackerel was brought in to Key West on about 

 November 20. The season 1918-19 ended March 1, and only a few 

 fish were caught after that date. This, together with the small catch 

 for February, was partly due to a shortage of ice caused by the dis- 

 ability of the city's only ice plant. The catches, segregated accord- 

 ing to months, were as follows : 



Table 5. — Catch of Spanish mackerel, by months, landed at Key West during 



the seasons from 1918 to 1920. 



Gill nets and purse seines are used for catching Spanish mackerel 

 in the vicinity of Key West. A few are caught with trolling lines, 

 but the catch from this source is small. At other points along the 

 coast, particularly in Virginia and North Carolina, a large part of 

 the catch is taken with pound nets. The gill net is more extensively 

 used than the purse seine. The usual net is 20 feet in depth, 150 to 

 175 yards in length, having a stretched mesh of 3f to 3f inches built 

 of 6-thread cotton seine twine and tarred. In the fishery several 

 shorter nets are joined together to form one 500 to 1,800 yards in 

 length, according to conditions and the facilities of the boat. 



The boats employed are usually from 30 to 50 feet in length, gaso- 

 line driven, and of the open or half-cabin type. In order that fishing 

 may be done at night, a searchlight is carried on the bow. Most of 



