Timo dovoted to actual fishing is to a certain extent depend- 

 ent upon t;oo,;rapliic i'actors. The location of the shrimp grounds in re- 

 lation to home port will determine length of trip; it will also deter- 

 mine the size of boat required and the methods of preserving the catch. 

 The relative abundance and availability of shrimp on different grounds 

 may make a longer trip profitable and thus make up for a reduction in 

 the time that can be spent fishdng. 



The ratios of vessel time spent in alternate uses are of in- 

 terest for a nuiiiber of reasons. The ratio of time at sea (high risk) to 

 time at the dock (low risk) is of direct concern to insurance companies 

 in the wi'iting of marine insurance policies. The ratios of running time 

 or fishing tine, respectively, to length of trip has a bearing on vessel 

 depreciation. A high ratio of I'unning time to other time must be offset 

 by good fishing conditions on distant grounds. To make possible an ex- 

 tension of fishing time and to assure a payload, larger and more costly 

 vessels have to be employed. 



The results of the study by Harvjell, Knowles and Associates on 

 the use of vessel time for a sample of I4O vessels operating out of vari- 

 ous Gulf and south Atlantic ports in 19^k are summarized in table III - 6. 



Vessels operating out of ports on the Atlantic coast, on the 

 average, are smaller in size, are restricted to a shorter fishing season, 

 make shorter trips, and spend less time at sea than Gulf coast vessels. 

 Vessels domiciled in Rockville, South Carolina represented in the sample 

 of vessels studied were iiO to h^ feet in length, could fish only from 

 10^ to 120 days during the year (193li) and made trips averaging one day. 

 They worked approximately U8 to 5? days in actual shrimping operations. 



Tampa, tlorida vessels shrimping the Campeche grounds were 

 from 65 to 72 feet or more in length, fished 225 to 263 days of the year, 

 made trips of 32 to k^ days' duration, spent the equivalent of 91 to 105 

 days fishing. Shrimping out of Thiuiderbolt, Georgia, and Mayport, 

 Florida, resembled the Rockville operations in character. Shrimping 

 operations out of Key Uest, Florida; BiloxL, Mississippi; and Brownsville, 

 Texas bore some similarity to those in Tampa, 



The Key i'est fishermen who favored the Tortugas grounds as well , 

 as the Biloxi and Brownsville fishermen who fished off the Mississippi 

 and Texas coasts enjoyed a longer fishing season than the Atlantic coast 

 fishermen. They spent on the average as much time as the Tampa fishermen 

 in actual shrimping operations, viz. the equivalent of ninety days or a 

 fourth of the year. Because of the relative proximity of the fishing 

 grounds, they spent less time traveling when compared to the long Campeche 

 trip. Only some of the newer vessels equipped to undertake the Campeche 

 trip operating out of Brownsville, were comparable in size to the Tampa 

 boats. 



The ratios of t.ime-at-dock to time-at-sea and of fishing-time 

 to unproductive time-at-sea are highly significant from an economic 



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