LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 273 



Our Shrimp Fisheries 



Although "shrimp" is a derogatory term com- 

 monly used to denote an undersized, undesirable per- 

 son, marine shrimps are considered a delicacy by 

 connoisseurs of sea-foods. Shrimps are little crusta- 

 ceans found all along our coasts but caught in com- 

 mercial quantities only in the Southern and Pacific 

 States. Large numbers are also found in Alaskan 

 waters, but a fishery has not yet been developed. 



The commercial shrimp fisheries are located 

 chiefly in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, 

 Texas, and North and South Carolina. Mississippi 

 and Louisiana lead in the production of shrimp. The 

 Mississippi fishery is concentrated at Biloxi, where an 

 important canning industry is located. In the spring 

 the Mississippi fishermen confine their operations to 

 the Mississippi Sound, but in autumn they visit the 

 Louisiana marshes, often going a hundred miles from 

 port for a week's fishing. Barataria and Timbalier 

 Bays are the most important fishing grounds of 

 Louisiana. Fishing camps are established on the 

 shores of these bays, from which the fishermen go 

 daily to the fishing grounds. Larger boats from New 

 Orleans visit the camps periodically and transport 

 the shrimp to the canneries. Fernandina, Florida, 

 and Brunswick, Georgia, are the principal shrimp- 

 fishing ports of the Atlantic coast. 



Haul-seines are used in the shallow-water fishery 

 of Louisiana and Mississippi, whereas shrimp taken 

 in deep water are caught in otter-trawls. Formerly 

 all of the shrimp caught by the Biloxi and New 



