MARINE FISHERIES OP TEXAS 



179 



A comparison of the total yield of the State with the number of 

 boats engaged in fishing further emphasizes the effect of restrictive 

 measures on the catch. Although the number of boats in operation 

 in 190G was greater than in any of the four preceding years, the total 

 quantity of fish taken from Texas intercoastal waters was 1,500,000 

 pounds less than in 1904, the year with the largest catch. Prior to 

 1906 the parallel between the amount of fish caught and the number 

 of boats in use was distinct. This same parallel continued to exist 

 after the restrictions of 1906 were in force, until 1913 and 1914, when 

 further restrictions caused the catch to fall off greatly, although the 

 number of boats in use was greater in 1914 than in any previous year. 

 From 1919 on there was again a very close parallel between the annual 

 catch and the number of fishing boats in use. The average catch 

 per boat followed the same general trend, of course. (See fig. 3.) 



Table 6. — Yield of the Texas fisheries from 1901 to 1924 and average annual boat 

 catch as computed from total yield and number of boats 



[Data taken from Texas State reports] 



Year 



1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 

 1913 



Pounds 



2, 715, 000 

 2, 899, 000 

 3,350,000 

 4, 187, 000 

 2, 452, 000 

 2, 283, 000 

 3, 185, 000 

 3, 263, 000 

 3, 873, 000 



3, 673, 000 

 3,612,000 

 2, 474, 000 



Number 

 of boats 



Average 

 catch, 

 in thou- 

 sands of 

 pounds 



Year 



1914 

 1915 

 1916 

 1917 

 1918 

 1919 

 1920 

 1921 

 1922 

 1923 

 1924 



Pounds 



Number 

 of boats 



592 

 538 



394 

 343 



402 

 483 

 565 



Average 

 catch, 

 in thou- 

 sands of 

 pounds 



10.3 

 10.5 



12.8 

 9.2 

 8.7 



Thus, we see that whenever rigorous restrictions are put into 

 effect the total catch, as well as the average catch per fishing boat, 

 falls off. 



YIELD OF THE VARIOUS FISHERIES 



Additional light may be thrown upon the state of the fisheries by 

 studying the variations in the yield of the several species. Here 

 again we are confronted by the same unfortunate lack of adequate 

 records. The tax reports of the State commission list only the total 

 tax on "fish " and do not name the species. The surveys of the Bureau 

 of Fisheries are more complete, however, and from them we must 

 gain all of our knowledge as to the courses of the various fisheries. 

 The yield of the chief fisheries in the various years in which surveys 

 were made is given, by species, in Table 7, and is illustrated graph- 

 ically in Figure 4. 



