914 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Fisheries of the South Atlantic States, 1880 to 192S — Continued 



CATCH OF CERTAIN SPECIES: By States— Continued 



(Expressed in thousands of pounds; that is, 000 omitted] 



' statistics not available. 



N'OTE. — Prior to 1889 some of the above species were often included undert he heading "Miscellaneous 

 fish " or " All other fish "; therefore, the total for certain species is not shown for certain years of this period . 



FISHERIES OF FLORIDA ^ 



Commercial fisheries are prosecuted along the entire length of the 

 Florida seacoast from Fernandina south to Key West and from there 

 north and west to Pensacola, and also in Lake Okeechobee. The 

 fisheries and industries related to the fisheries of Florida employed 

 10,852 persons during 1928. This is an increase of per cent over 

 the number employed during 1927. Of the total, 9,098 were fisher- 

 men, 48 were employed aboard transporting vessels, 1,277 in the whole- 

 sale trade, and 429 in the prepared-products and by-products 

 industries. The catch amounted to 131,838,020 pounds, valued at 

 SO, 250, 360. This represents a decrease of 5 per cent in the catch 

 and 3 per cent in the value of the catch as compared with the catch 

 and the value of the catch for 1927. Of the total catch, 100,700,203 

 pounds, valued at $4,034,552, were fish; 30,583,459 pounds, valued 

 at $1,364,446, were shellfish and miscellaneous products; and 554,358 

 pounds, valued at $851,362, were sponges. Of the total, 51 per 

 cent were taken along the east coast, 46 per cent along the west coast, 

 and 3 per cent in Lake Okeechobee. 



OPERATING UNITS 



The catch of fishery products during 1928 was made by 9,098 

 fishermen, who used 108 motor vessels and 13 sailing vessels with 

 a combined capacity of 3,915 net tons; 3,248 motor boats; and 4,243 

 other small boats. The fishing gear consisted of 6 menhaden purse 

 seines, having a combined length of 1,760 yards; 3 other purse seines, 

 having a combined length of 900 yards; 276 common haul seines hav- 

 ing a combined length of 148,745 yards; 2,797 drift gill nets, having a 

 combined area of 3,348,336 square yards; 18 set gill nets, having a 



• Detailed statistics of the fisheries along the cast coast of Florida are discussed separately on pp. 900 to 910 

 t hose for the fisheries along the west coast pp. 928 to 941; while those for Lake Okeechobee, as well as those 

 (if ihi' Florida sponge fishery, are discussed in this section. Statistics for these districts are combined in 

 Ihi.s .fi'clioii for 111'' convcnietue of those readers who arc iiiteri'Sted in statistics covering the entire State. 



