102 



U.S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



in Louisiana.) In these 386 hauls made with the ordinary commer- 

 cial gear, a total of 530,176 fish were taken, an average of 1,373^ fish 

 per haul. The table given below shows the total number and the 

 average number per haul of bullhead minnows, important sports fish 

 and all other species caught in these 386 hauls. 



Species 



Bullhead minnow 



Spot 



Croaker 



Summer trout 



Whiting 



Species 



Blueflsh 



Other species 



Total. - 



Total num- 

 ber of fish 

 taken in 386 

 hauls in 

 inside 

 waters 



394 

 158, 909 



530, 176 



Average 



number of 



fish per 



haul 



1.0 



411.7 



1, 373. 5 



As shown in the table, almost half the total catch (45 percent) was 

 represented by the bullhead minnow {Stellifer lanceolatus) , a fish of no 

 sport or commercial value, but still of importance as a source of food 

 for other species. Excluding the bullhead minnow, five sports fish, 

 namely, croaker (Micropogon undulatus) , spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) , 

 summer trout {Cynoscion regalis) , whiting (Menticirrhus americanus) , 

 and bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), comprised 45}^ percent of the fish 

 remaining. Since the majority of summer trout, croakers, spots, and 

 bluefish, and a large proportion of the whiting, were undersized and 

 immature fish that could not be utilized for food purposes, it is evi- 

 dent that a great deal of destruction was done by the trawlers. In 

 the ordinary commercial operations most of the fish and smaller 

 shrimp caught in the trawls are dead or moribund before the process 

 of sorting has been completed and they can again be returned to the 

 water. If the young individuals are not dead, they are so weakened 

 from packing in the trawl and exposure on the deck of the vessel that 

 when thrown back they fall easy prey to sea gulls and larger fish. 

 Furthermore, since the inside waters of Georgia are restricted in 

 extent and since they are important nursery grounds for shrimp and 

 many species of fishes, it has been recommended that these inside 

 waters be closed to trawling. 



Experiments are in progress in Louisiana which it is hoped will 

 throw light on the amount of shrimp that escape through the meshes 

 of the trawl and to determine if it is feasible to devise a trawl which 

 will allow the smaller shrimp to escape unharmed. This is not an 

 easy undertaking as the shrimp are readily killed and their shape 

 makes it difficult for them to pass through the meshes of a net with- 

 out becoming entangled and badly mutilated. A canvas tubing is 

 being devised which will fit over the cod end of a trawl and allow 

 everything that passes through the trawl to be washed into a live car 

 on the surface. With this apparatus the efi'ectiveness of a savings 

 gear can be determined as it will enable a record to be made not only 

 of the number of shrimp and small fish escaping through the meshes 

 of the trawl, but also whether these individuals are living or dead — 

 a necessary requisite of any savings trawl. 



With the shrimp fishery based wholly on immature and maturing 

 individuals and with the evident short life of the common shrimp, 



