Re 
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 69 
Owing to the great depth from which the fish came, it was found 
impossible to keep them alive in the shallow wells pending the arrival 
of the steamer. Consequently, as soon as caught, they were packed 
in ice whole and sent to Galveston in that condition. At Galveston 
they were sold whole or dressed, as the customers desired. Krom that 
place shipments were made in ice to Chicago, New York, and Denver. 
The fish, delivered on board the cars or boats, brought 4 to 7 cents ¢ 
pound, varying with the condition in which sold. 
Fish were very abundant at all times, and easily caught with the 
proper bait. As many as 20,000 pounds were taken in one day by the 
three smacks. Between January 21 and May 6 ten trips were made to 
Galveston by the steamer, and 367,808 pounds of fish were landed from 
the fishing-grounds, of which 321,056 pounds were red snappers, 41,412 
pounds groupers, and 5,340 pounds other fish. The largest fare was 
brought in April 1, consisting of 51,452 pounds, of which 46,418 pounds 
were red snappers. 
The dates and detailed figures for each trip are given in the follow- 
ing table: 
Table showing the quantities of fish caught on Campeche Bank, Gulf of Mexico, and landea 
at Galveston, Tex., in 1893. 
Red | 
Date of trip. | snappers. Groupers. | Warsaws.| Jewfish. | ‘Total. 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. | Pounds. Pounds. 
RPA SR eijeec a ese pecencnapodesec | 26, 996 2, 700 200 100 29, 996 
UTES 2 ee Sea oeeeseeerr ee sepeeen 40, 401 2, 950 200 150 43, 701 
LING iSO tem ebsites oilman = nls ata =le 45, 079 3, 100 150 | 250 48, 579 
ou Se ee ee ae ee eee 28, 806 8, 119 100 320 37, 345 
MEMEO Sets wiciois S55 Sm aia a nic/S ose om ae doen a'aie 27, 587 4, 200 123 500 32, 410 
MNPC TIE OD cis = 5505 saline ts Seine =csisemiecssce 26, 281 4, 500 200 280 31, 261 
STH S30 BSE eee one ncmpermocrens 46, 418 4, 634 150 | 250 51, 452 
PaEOe ees arn tec ae tao maaies fe sein 32, 946 5, 583 300 a 815 39, 644 
(TEE OS ee eee ea 33, 243 3. 626 400 | 543 37, 812 
UD Oi 25506 SGP Bb Soe Ber sigos Ge oe be ochae 506 13, 299 2, 000 200 | 109 15, 608 
PRIUS tists steiefelevora nat idle = atcbet= ele eateries 321, 056 41, 412 2,023 | 3,317 367, 808 
| 
a Includes 415 pounds of ‘‘rock perch.” 
As the season wore on the weather became so warm that it was 
impossible to keep ice for the preservation of the fish, and the fishery 
was discontinued. The following comments on the success of this 
venture and additional notes on the fishery have been supplied by Mr. 
F. A. Walthew, the president of the company: 
No doubt our plan for bringing these fish to this market in large quantities would 
be interesting, and I take pleasure in giving a short history of the venture, which 
has, unfortunately, not proven a success financially. 
We adopted, as we thought, one of the best plans for bringing large quantities of 
fish here. We stationed at the Cay of Alacran three fishing smacks manned by 12 
meneach. These smacks were supplied with sufficient ice to store the fish caught 
during the steamer’s run from that point to Galveston and return. We thought in 
this way that we could every week bring to this port not less than 40,000 pounds of 
fish. Doubtiess we would have been successful in this had not circumstances been 
against us and misfortunes overtaken us. The intense heat in that latitude and the 
delay of the steamer in arriving there caused us to lose thousands of pounds of fish, 
and necessarily detained the steamer until a sufficient quantity could be caught to 
complete the cargo. 
