176 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



It is unfortunate that the statistics for these fishing centers are not 

 complete, but in the main they justify the following observations: 



At Galveston the catch for the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, showed 

 a general upward trend. There was a sudden drop in 1906, and the 

 catch stayed at this general level until 1924, when a slight increase 

 was noted. 



At Matagorda the catch for the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, 

 showed a decided upward trend, and the following years, as at 

 Galveston, showed a catch that remained fairly constant until 1924. 



At Port Lavaca the catch for the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, 

 remained at an almost constant high level. There was a sudden 

 sharp drop in 1906, followed by a general downward tendency, 

 which persisted until 1919. In 1920 the catch suddenly increased, 

 and it continued to increase until 1924, when the high record of the 

 1901-1904 period was reached and passed. 



At Rockport the catch for the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, 

 showed a steady upward trend. This was followed by a sudden 

 drop in 1906, and a downward tendency prevailed until 1919. A 

 very great rise occurred in 1923, and while the catch for 1924 was 

 much better than for many years previous it was not as high as that 

 of 1923. 



At Corpus Christi the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, showed a 

 distinct yearly increase. This was followed in 1906 by a sudden 

 drop, and from then until the high point was reached in 1910 the 

 general trend was upward. Then came a slow decline, that in the 

 years 1919 and 1920 dropped still lower. The years 1923 and 1924 

 showed a great increase in the catch, which reached its maximum in 

 the latter year. 



At Point Isabel the years 1901 to 1904, inclusive, showed a general 

 increase in the annual catch, and from then on the trend was steadily 

 upward until 1919. A falling off occurred in 1920 and 1923, but the 

 catch returned to almost its previous maximum in 1924. 



The production of each of these fishing centers may be shown by 

 dividing the 13 years for which we have statistics into two periods. 

 According to the greatest mean annual production, the ranks for the 

 two periods are as follows: 



Table 5 



Port 



Rockport 



Corpus Christi 

 Port Lavaca . . 

 Point Isabel . . . 



Galveston 



Matagorda 



1901 to 1910 



Average 



annual 



production 



Pounds 

 836, 036 

 657, 758 

 569, 930 

 371,057 

 353, 536 

 214, 039 



Rank 



Average 



annual 



production 



Pounds 

 700, 294 

 759, 634 

 344. 249 

 901, 927 

 203, 512 

 204, 307 



Rank 



The most notable differences in the two periods are the rise of Point 

 Isabel from fourth to first place and the decline of Galveston from 

 fifth to sixth. 



