66 FISHERIES OF THE COASTAL WATERS OF FLORIDA. 



The red-snapper fishery. — it is this fishery which gives to Peusacola 

 its chief importance as a fishing center and has brought the place into 

 prominent notice from a fishing standpoint. The taking of red snap- 

 pers here not only reaches larger proportions than elsewhere in the 

 United States, but the product is many times greater than at all other 

 centers combined. 



The red-snapper fishery is essentially a vessel fishery, although it is 

 engaged in by a few small sailboats which frequent the nearer grounds. 

 The snapper vessels now employed vary in size from 5 to 54 tous and 

 carry from 5 to 10 men. Their average size is about 29 tous and their 

 average crew is 7. Their average value, inclusive of outfit, is $5,587. 

 With a very few exceptions they are schooner- rigged, only 2 sloops 

 being employed in 1805. Each vessel carries two or more boats, from 

 which a part of the fishing is done. 



The lines used are valued at about SI each. The usual complement 

 is 2 to each man of the crew, besides which 3 or 4 lines to a man are 

 kept in reserve. The boats engaged in the shore snapper fishery carry 

 about 5 men each and are valued at $125 on an average. The lines 

 are fewer and less expensive than those used in the vessel fishery. 



During the six warmer months of each year the snapper vessels 

 resort to those banks lying between Ship Island and Tortugas, and 

 during the remainder of the year on the great Campeche Bank, lying 

 off the coast of Yucatan. Snappers could probably be caught off the 

 Florida coast during the colder months were it not for the very unset- 

 tled weather there encountered. On the Campeche Bank good weather 

 prevails, the water is warmer, and the snappers can be caught with 

 great facility. The location, depth, extent, and general character of 

 the various fishing-grounds for snappers have been fully described in a 

 number of reports of the Commission. 1 The bait used in the snapper 

 fishery consists entirely of pieces of fish, the principal species being- 

 snappers, groupers, bluefish, sharks, lady-fish, menhaden, and other 

 fish found on the banks. Salted lady-fish is a favorite and much-used 

 bait. Some of the bait is carried from shore, but a fair proportion is 

 caught on the fishing-grounds. 



The usual time consumed on a trip to the more distant banks is two 

 weeks, but a vessel may return from the nearer grounds in a week, or 

 less. The average number of trips during a season is now about 22. 

 Necessary repairs to the vessels and inclement weather occasion delays. 



A change in the method of conducting this fishery has taken place in 

 comparatively recent years. Ten years ago many of the vessels were 

 well-smacks, and the fish as caught were placed in wells and landed 



'See especially the following: 



Report of the discovery and investigation of the fishing-grounds made by the Fish 

 Commission steamer Albatross during the cruise along the Atlantic Coast and in the 

 Gulf of Mexico, with notes on the Gulf fisheries. Report U. S. Fish Com., 18Nf>. 



Report upon an investigation of the tishing-grounds oh' the west roast of Florida. 

 Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, 1890. 



The red-snapper fishery. Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, 

 Sec. V, vol. 1, 1887. 



. 



