vessel, which the Bureau chartered in 1956 

 for explorations off the east coast of Florida, 

 Georgia, and the Carolinas. Its original 170- 

 hp. engine had been replaced by a slightly 

 more powerful one a short time before it 

 was rechartered for the lobster work. The 

 vessel was slightly modified for lobster fishing. 

 A flying bridge was installed, complete with 

 controls; air conditioning was added; and 

 extra electronic equipment was mounted (radar, 

 two lorans, transistor radio-direction finder, 

 single-side band and citizen-band radio sets, 

 and two additional depth recorders). Davits 

 were erected on the vessel's stern for carry- 

 ing the launch. A hydraulic trap hauler was 

 obtained and fitted to a boom tip at the 

 port waist of the Pelican (fig. 3). The vessel 

 has sufficient fuel and water capacity for a 

 range of 2,500 miles or period of 21 days. 

 A total of 185 traps can be carried on the 

 main deck and behind the flying bridge, and 

 below- deck storage is adequate for handling 

 the requisite buoys, lines, trap weights, and 

 miscellaneous fishing equipment and ship's 

 stores. Provision is also made for freezing 

 and storing the lobster catch. Accommoda- 

 tions are provided for 10 persons. During 

 the survey, the Pelican was operated by the 

 captain, a four-man crew, and two fishery 

 specialists. Remaining accommodations were 



Figure 3. — Hydraulic trap hauler in operation. A reed trap 

 is being hauled. The grapnel hanging on the rail is used 

 to pick up trap buoys at the start of a hauling operation. 



Figure 4. — Launch used in the survey to set and haul traps 

 in shallow- water areas. 



generally filled with observers from indus- 

 try or fishery stations or with other interested 

 persons. 



A 17-foot fiberglass launch (fig. 4) was 

 acquired and modified for lobster fishing 

 by adding a flat deck space forward of the 

 controls to carry 15 to 25 traps. First powered 

 by two 18-hp. out-board motors, it later was 

 repowered with one 40-hp. motor. When not 

 in use, the launch was carried in stern davits 

 on the Pelican or towed astern. Use of the 

 launch made it possible to set a maximum 

 number of traps during the survey and per- 

 mitted fishing in areas close to shore and 

 reefs. 



Fishing Gear and Equipment 



Prior to the start of operations, we decided 

 to confine fishing efforts to one basic type 

 of gear. Only in this way could meaningful 

 comparisons be made among the several 

 fishing areas. The gear selected as basic 

 was the lobster trap. The selection was based 

 on a number of factors, among them: (1) The 

 adaptability of traps to either large-scale 

 or small-scale fishing operations; (2) the 

 demonstrated success of traps in spiny lobster 

 fisheries in warm waters the world over; 



(3) the combination of conveniently small indi- 

 vidual units of effort and large number of 

 units of effort made possible with traps; and 



(4) the possibility of contributing to the local 

 economy by establishing small industries to 

 construct, repair, and supply traps. Although 

 other gear was used during 1962 on occasion 

 (trawls and SCUBA gear), traps were used al- 

 most exclusively. Traps used were constructed 

 of three materials--reeds, wire, and wood. The 

 wood traps were not only more effective but 

 also more economical in that they had longer 



