404 KErOliT OF COMMIISSlONElt UF Fl«ll AND FJSllEiaEW. 



For most of tbe fish the wholesale iiiarketiueii usually give G cents 

 per pound in the winter, and during tlie summer months sometimes as 

 low as i cents per i)ound, and even less. These prices are fe)r round 

 fish. When shipped inland they are packed in ice and sent by ex- 

 press. The pom])ano, Si)anish mackerel, llounder, robalo {Coitropomus 

 undccimalis), and a tVw other choice varieties, are sold almost entirely 

 lor consumption iu the city, and at fancy prices, often as much as oO 

 cents per jiound being obtained for some of them. Tlie marketing 

 houses also handle s]irim[), turtle, terrapins, etc., as they may be takeu 

 by the fishermen, which is always iu limited quantities. 



MATAGOEDA BAY. 



Leaving Galveston Bay and going westward along the coast, at the 

 mouths of most of the estuaries there are a few oyster reefs, from which 

 at times the people living at the scattering handets and plantations 

 obtain a " mess " of oysters. At Oyster Creek, Brazos River, San Ber- 

 nard lliver, and Caney Bayou a few fish are taken by means of lines; 

 but no established commercial fishery is met with until Matagorda Bay 

 is reached, the entrance to which (Pass Cavallo) is about 125 miles from 

 Galveston City. 



This bay is inclosed between Matagorda Peninsula and the mainland. 

 Its only channel to the Gulf of Mexico is through Pass Cavallo, which 

 affords uncertain passage for vessels drawing feet of water. JNIa ta- 

 gorda Peninsula, which separates Matagorda Bay from the Gulf, is 50 

 miles long and varies in width from a few rods to lA miles. -It is quite 

 loAV and sandy, and is in many i)laces subject to an occasional overflow, 

 liermitting the waters of the bay to unite w ith those of the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



The Colorado, Navidad, Lavaca, and other rivers, all combined drain- 

 iug'an area of over 50,000 square miles, empty their M'aters into Mata- 

 gorda Bay. Tliis would render the water in the bay quite fresh, were 

 it not for the large channel at Pass Cavallo. 



Matagorda Bay is about 53 miles long, and the width varies from 2 

 to 14: mdes. With its tributaries, Lavaca, Carankaway, Tresi)alacios, 

 and smaller bays, it covers an area approxinuiting 110 square miles. 

 The dei)th of water in the bay varies from a few inches to 14 feet. It 

 averages from 10 to 12 feet, except in the eastern end of the bay, where 

 the ordinary depth is from 4 to 8 feet. Under the influence of a strong 

 southeast wind this bay becomes exceedingly rough, and during the 

 last six years more fishing boats have been wrecked here than in all 

 the remaining bays on the Texas coast. 



The fisheries prosecuted. — The extent of the fisheries of Matagorda 

 Bay has varied with the pros])erity of the towns along its shores, and 

 at no time has it been so great as the bay is capable of sustaining. 

 The fish and oyster trad(! in 1 SSI and 1885 reached considerable i)ro- 

 l)ortions, but owing to the abaudonment of the bay by the Morgan line 



