FISHERIES OF KEY WEST. 45 



Key West are equipped with fish wells, which, according to their 

 size, may accommodate from several hundred to about 1,000 crawfish. 

 When using the bully net or the grains a small flatboat is utilized in 

 making the catch. The typical flatboat has a rather blunt bow, to 

 afford sufficient room for standing. This is an important feature, as 

 the operator always works in the extreme bow of the boat. Some 

 flatboats are equipped with a small fish well, but this is not absolutely 

 essential for crawfish fishing, as the catch can be deposited from time 

 to time in the well of the larger boat. Crawfish fishermen often 

 remain away for a week or more at a time and seldom leave port with 

 less than a 10-day supply of staple food products. 



Three methods are employed in catching the crawfish — trapping, 

 " bullying," and striking. The method of trapping crawfish differs 

 in no special way from that used in trapping the northern lobster 

 {Homarus americanus), except that the trap itself is of a distinct 

 type. The traps are handmade and are built of heavy galvanized 

 wire. It requires considerable skill to manufacture a good trap, 

 and in 1919 only one person made them for sale. The price at that 

 time was $7. The trap is somewhat elbow-shaped and measures 

 about 4 feet in length, 2 feet in width, and is 1\ feet -in depth. Craw- 

 fish, crabs, and fish can enter through an opening made in the center 

 of the vertical apex. The traps are baited with fish and placed in 

 favorable localities, generally within 1 mile of the shore. Buoys 

 are usually attached to the offshore traps, but are dispensed with 

 when fishing is done near land in shallow water. The traps are 

 lifted every morning when the weather is favorable. The crawfish 

 are taken out through a small door located on the upper part of the 

 trap. Stone crabs and fish are often caught along with the crawfish ; 

 the crabs and larger fish are retained for market, while the smaller 

 fish are used to rebait the traps. The principal advantages of trap 

 fishing for crawfish are (a) one fisherman can work alone and inde- 

 pendently, (b) the traps will fish in deep water where at times most 

 of the crawfish migrate, and (c) fishing can be done during moder- 

 ately heavy weather when other methods of crawfish fishing are 

 curtailed. 



While trap fishing is somewhat of a success on a small scale, as 

 yet no one has specialized in this method. It is not uncommon to 

 catch from 6 to 15 good-sized crawfish in one trap over night, while 

 4 per trap might be considered a very fair average. The fishermen 

 do not lift their traps during periods of rough weather, and at 

 times they remain down for a week or more. When lifted at the 

 termination of such a period, they do not contain many more craw- 

 fish, if any, than if they had been down but one night, and it is 

 evident that some of them must escape after being trapped. Ac- 

 cording to the fishermen, the disadvantages of trap fishing are the 

 high cost of the traps and the labor required for making them, 

 the frequent repairs that are necessary when corrosion begins, the 

 loss of traps through storms, theft, or otherwise, and the fact that 

 they must continually be baited with fish. 



" Bully " fishing for crawfish is done chiefly at night. Two men 

 generally work together, but some fishermen work alone and in- 

 dependently. Besides the small flatboat, the necessary equipment 

 consists of a bully net and a lantern. The bully net resembles a 

 long-handled dip net, but differs in having the iron hoop placed at 



