162 DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT FISHERIES AND THEIR PRODUCTS 



Several years later the small Florida grounds off Sanibel and Tarpon 

 Springs began to be exploited. There is a gap between Tarpon Springs 

 and the next shrimping area, near Apalachicola. From Pensacola Bay 

 the grounds are nearly continuous to the Mexican border. American 

 vessels fish off the coast of Mexico below Brownsville, landing in that 

 port and others nearby. Vessels also sail from Tampa, Ft. ]\Iyers, and 

 other ports to the Campeche grounds off the Yucatan Peninsula of 

 Mexico. 



As the industry expanded rapidly under the stimulus of newly dis- 

 covered fishing grounds and increased markets in the 1950's, some vessels 

 found it increasingly difficult to catch profitable amounts of shrimp. One 

 consequence was that boats began to go farther and farther afield. 

 American fleets have fished in Honduras, Nicaragua, and other Central 

 American countries, and in the early 1960's American boats are producing 

 shrimp in British Guiana and shipping them back to the United States 

 frozen. Catches by United States boats in domestic waters and in waters 

 off foreign countries for 1960 are show^n in Table 12.2. 



Table 12.2. Catch of Shrimp Off United States and 

 ON THE High Seas Off Foreign Coasts by United 

 States Boats Landing at American Ports, 1960* 



♦Source: Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1960, and Shrimp Landings, 1960. Washington. 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1961). 



Until the late 1940's most shrimp fishing took place within about 6 

 miles of shore; occasionally vessels went out about 10 miles, and in 

 Louisiana fishing was done in some cases out to 50 miles. By 1950 the 

 character of the fishery had changed, with the best catches of large 

 shrimp being made in deep water (up to 25 fathoms or more) considerable 

 distances offshore. Vessels from Key West and Ft. Mj^ers go as much 

 as 90 miles to the Tortugas grounds, and Tampa boats go about 600 

 miles to the Campeche grounds. 



