104 REPORT OF commissionp:r of fish and fisheries. 



LOUISIANA. 



The iVcsli water lislierii^s of Lonisiaiia are more extensive than those 

 of any of the other States bordering- on the (inlf Coast or in tlie Lower 

 Mississippi basin. The State is bountifully supplied with rivers, lakes? 

 and bayous containing- an abundance of fish. In addition to the Mis- 

 sissippi River, which traverses the southern half of the State and 

 forms the eastern boundary of the northern part, and the Sabine River, 

 Avhich marks most of the western boundary, the Red, Atchafalaya, 

 Ouachita, and Calcasieu are the most important streams. The princi- 

 pal lakes are Catahoula, Grand, Salvadore, Calcasieu, Bastineau, des 

 Allemands, Maurepas, and Cross, besides Lakes Pontchartrain and 

 Borgne, which are salt or brackish. The waters in which most of the 

 fishing is done are the Atchafalaya River and tributary bayous, the 

 Mississippi River, and the Red River. Considerable fishing is also 

 done in tlie Ouachita, Sabine, and Nementou rivers, Lakes Calcasieu, 

 Salvadore, and des Allemands, and in Bayou James. 



The number of ])ersons ascertained to be employed in the fisheries 

 of this State in 1804 was 1,203, of whom 137 were on the Mississippi 

 and 756 on the Atchafalaya. More than half the fishermen, namely, 

 677, used set lines; 358 operated fyke nets; 21)0 hunted alligators; 124 

 trapped otters; 77 fished seines, no allowance being made in these 

 figures for the persons who were engaged in two or more fisheries. 



The investment in boats, apparatus, and other fishing property was 

 $77,339, of which $51,873 represented the value of 1,282 boats. The set 

 line or trawl line was the most important means of capture; 2,484 lines, 

 with an aggregate length of 1,545,055 feet and with 483,140 hooks, 

 were used. The number of seines was 33, of fyke nets 939, of guns 200, 

 of steel traps 0,012, and of cast nets 61. The total value of the appa- 

 ratus was $24,501. Shore and accessory property of the value of $965 

 was in use. Most of the seines and set lines wei '-^nerated in the 

 Atchafalaya River, where also the cast nets and many of the fyke nets 

 were used. Set lines were also prominently used in Red and Missis- 

 sippi rivers and in Lakes Calcasieu, des Allemands, and Salvadore. In 

 Ouachita and Red rivers fyke nets were comparatively numerous. 



The output of the fresh-water fisheries of Louisiana in 1804 consisted 

 of 6,274,103 pounds of fish, crawfish, slirimp, turtles, and terrapin, 

 53,267 alligator hides, and 1,035 otter skins, the whole having a value 

 of $102,012. The number of species of fish of prominence commer- 

 cially is limited and includes onl}^ catfish, buffalo fish, fresh water drum, 

 and crappie. By far the most valuable of the Louisiana fresh-water 

 fishes is the catfish, which constitutes much more than half the quan- 

 tity and value of the catch; over 4,000,000 pounds, Avorth $126,550, 

 were taken. The buffalo-fish ranks after the catfish; tlie catch was 

 over 956,000 pounds, for which the fishermen received $14,500. Of 

 fresh-water drum, nearly 160,000 pounds were taken, wliich yielded 

 the fishermen $4,280. The value of some of the other jiroducts was as 



