pulling in tne not. Up until tho late 1930's, few of those vessels 

 cniTied poijer-driven iiiichlneiy for talcing in the trails . At present, 

 Ttnny of the better equipped and mora recently built luggers employ 

 a hoist, but on a number of the older boats, the gear is still operated 

 entirely by hand. 



Ice or freight boats fori-nei-ly were used in conjunction viith 

 email luggers in the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama fisheries. 

 These ice boats vere large luggers used for picking up shrimp on the 

 the fishing grounds, icing, and transporting them to ths cannery or 

 otiier unloading station. The small vessels, as a rule, did not carry 

 ice, but Tihen they caught shrimp pulled alongside the ice boat , 

 unloaded and retvtrnGd to the fishing grounds. When a fleet 

 of luggers ira,3 operating seme distance frcia port, the ice boat 

 ■\;ouia also supply the fleet with fuel, water and provisions. There were 

 advantages to tne ice boat system in the circamstances under which it 

 was employed, Quite often the luggers operated at considerable distances 

 from the port xjhere their shrimp would be landed, and for each vessel 

 to obtain ice and bring in its catch would have forced it to spend much 

 of its time in traveling to and from the fishing grounds. Today freight 

 or ice boats have almost disappeared from the scene and are used only 

 to a nominal extent in Louisiana. 



The use of slciff-type vessels operated by one man is a rela- 

 tively recent development in the Louisiana and Mississippi inshore 

 fisheries. The skiffs are about 30 feat in length or less, have a 

 6-foot beaau and are powered by gasoline marine motors. They work pri- 

 marily out or the Louisiana ports of Gi'and Isle, Barataria, and Lafitte, 

 and certain Mississippi ports. They make short trips of six or seven 

 homes' duration and nonnally land about two barrels of shrimp. They 

 carry no ice and the only protection for the shrijrap is an awning which 

 is stretched across the forward deck. The canneries utilize a large 

 proportion of the catch from this type of vessel. 



In Alaska and on tha Pacific coast the beam trawler is common. 



Wood Versus Steel Construction 



In recent years steel has been gaining popularity in the 

 industry as building material. It is estimated that until recently 

 not moro tnan one percent of all the shrimp vessels in the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf Areas were constructed of steel. 



Because of the general rusty appearance of the hull and the 

 suporstructiu'a of the steel vessels on returning from fishing.many 

 vessel otjners and captains harbor a prejudice against steel. Steel 

 is stronger than xiood and problems of hogging and sagging are reduced. 

 Fuel storage is bstween the double bottoms of tha hull, which greatly 

 increases the below docks space. Watertight bulkheads add to the 

 safety of tno vessel. The fish holds require careful insulation 

 because of heat conductivity of the metal, Qceater povjer is required 



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