History of Explorations and Devolopmont of Fishing Grounds 



The history of the explorations and development of new shrimp- 

 ing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years is described by Hilde- 

 brand. The following paragraphs have been exceipted from Mr. Hildobrand's 

 account. 



The shrimp fishery on the Gulf coast first developed in the 

 bays and the lagoons. On the Gulf coast of the United States, except for 

 peninsular Florida, shrimp were caught in large drag seines and cast nets. 

 Willie on the coast of Lfexico shrimp were caught in fixed traps. 



The introduction of the otter trawl (between 1912 and 191^) in 

 Louisiana freed the fishermen from dependence on the seasonal abundance 

 of shrimp in shallow water. For a number of years the demand for shrimp 

 was entirely supplied by shriirjp from the bays and shallow water of the 

 open Gulf. In 1938, the large scale production of jumbo white shrimp on 

 the Ship Shoal grounds off Morgan City, Louisi^ina, began. The res\atant 

 national publicity helped create new outlets for the slxr:Lmp catch. The 

 size of the Gulf shriirjp fleet increased greatly, and a mimber of large 

 offshore trawlers were built « Although the addition of new boats to the 

 fleet was stopped during World War 11, it caai be stated that all shrimp- 

 ing grounds for white shrojjip in the northern Gulf of Mexico were knoxm 

 and were being exploited shortly after the end of the wars 



In 19h6, the crew of the "Sovereign", an 8Ii-foot boat owned by 

 Major J. A. Pullen, discovered an enormous concentration of white shrimp 

 off Carmen in the Gulf of Canipeche. These fishing groiuids had been pre- 

 viously explored by the Japanese in 1936 and 1937j but their location was 

 unknown to the Loxiisiana boat owners. 



The decline of the white shrimp production, discussed by Gunter 

 and Hildebrand 0.953), occurred shortly after the end of the war, when 

 the demand for shi'imp was high and previous high earnings of the fleet 

 had attracted many new fishermen. 



Although brovm shriji^ had been sold for many years, most of 

 them were dried, canned or peeledo Because of the color, the quantity 

 of broim shrimp that could be sold on the fresh market was at first verv 

 small. •' 



During the first half of 19ii7, the production of shrimp was 

 very low along the Texas coast and often the boats would bring in mixed 

 catches of v/hite and bro^m shrimp. The proportion of whites and browns 

 (50 percent browns or more) was such that it was impossible to market 

 them in one package. A producer-dealer of Aransas Pass was approached by 

 a group of fishermen who wanted to set up a cooperative marketing agency 

 for their shrimp. He acted as a broker for these vessel owners, who 

 were anxious to push the sale of brown shrimp, until ttie cooperative was 



19 



