﻿"SI 
  I 
  THE 
  GULF 
  FISHING 
  GROUNDS 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  207 
  

  

  lime, 
  however, 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  snappers 
  was 
  furnished 
  chiefly 
  by 
  the 
  

   " 
  Yankee 
  smacks," 
  for 
  the 
  company 
  owned 
  no 
  tonnage. 
  The 
  schooner 
  

   J. 
  W. 
  Wherrin, 
  the 
  first 
  smack 
  bought 
  at 
  Pensacola 
  expressly 
  for 
  

   the 
  snapper 
  fishery, 
  was 
  purchased 
  by 
  the 
  Pensacola 
  Ice 
  Company 
  in 
  

   1879. 
  The 
  next 
  year 
  the 
  smack 
  Ripple 
  was 
  bought, 
  and 
  in 
  1881 
  the 
  

   schooner 
  Man 
  tic 
  and 
  steamer 
  Millie 
  Wales 
  were 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  Heel 
  con- 
  

   trolled 
  by 
  the 
  company. 
  With 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  the 
  Millie 
  Wales, 
  that 
  

   was 
  recently 
  burned, 
  the 
  company 
  still 
  owns 
  the 
  above-named 
  vessels, 
  

   besides 
  which 
  two 
  smacks 
  from 
  Stonington, 
  Conn., 
  are 
  chartered 
  by 
  the 
  

   firm. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  mean 
  time, 
  in 
  1880, 
  Messrs.A. 
  F. 
  Warren 
  and 
  Silas 
  Stearns, 
  

   who 
  tor 
  many 
  years 
  had 
  been 
  associated 
  with 
  the, 
  Pensacola 
  Ice 
  Com- 
  

   pany, 
  withdrew 
  from 
  it 
  and 
  organized 
  a 
  fishing 
  firm 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Warren 
  & 
  Co. 
  This 
  firm 
  soon 
  after 
  began 
  to 
  purchase 
  vessels, 
  of 
  

   which 
  it 
  now 
  owns 
  five 
  and 
  charters 
  one 
  — 
  the 
  largest 
  fishing 
  fleet 
  con- 
  

   trolled 
  by 
  any 
  company 
  at 
  this 
  port. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Cobb, 
  "Messrs. 
  Vesta 
  and 
  Mathews 
  began 
  in 
  1880, 
  and 
  

   the 
  Santa, 
  Rosa 
  Fish 
  Company 
  in 
  1882." 
  The 
  last 
  of 
  these 
  has 
  one 
  vessel, 
  

   while 
  the 
  firm 
  of 
  E. 
  E. 
  Sanders 
  & 
  Co., 
  which 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  business 
  

   in 
  January, 
  1885, 
  employs 
  two 
  smacks. 
  Vesta 
  and 
  Mathews 
  have 
  no 
  

   tonnage, 
  but 
  buy 
  fish 
  from 
  vessels 
  or 
  boats 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  opportunity. 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  status 
  of 
  the 
  red-snapper 
  fishery 
  at 
  Pensacola, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  

   the 
  number 
  of 
  vessels 
  and 
  men 
  employed, 
  the 
  catch 
  and 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   fish, 
  &c, 
  is 
  given 
  elsewhere, 
  and 
  certainly 
  shows 
  a 
  growth 
  that 
  is 
  grat 
  

   i 
  lying, 
  and 
  which 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  indicate 
  a 
  material 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  

   future, 
  when 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  reasonably 
  supposed 
  that 
  the 
  demand 
  will 
  have 
  

   become 
  much 
  greater 
  for 
  this 
  species 
  than 
  it 
  now 
  is. 
  In 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  

   general 
  fisheries 
  of 
  Pensacola 
  — 
  of 
  which 
  that 
  for 
  the 
  snapper 
  forms 
  the 
  

   chief 
  part 
  — 
  Cobb 
  says 
  there 
  are 
  employed 
  "constantly 
  from 
  one 
  to 
  two 
  

   hundred 
  men; 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  their 
  labor 
  supports 
  1,000 
  of 
  the 
  city's 
  

   population, 
  with 
  a 
  probability 
  that 
  it 
  will 
  equal 
  in 
  value 
  the 
  entire 
  lum- 
  

   ber 
  trade 
  of 
  the 
  port 
  in 
  less 
  than 
  ten 
  years." 
  While 
  this 
  anticipation 
  

   may 
  be 
  criticised 
  as 
  too 
  ambitious, 
  it 
  nevertheless 
  shows 
  what 
  those 
  in- 
  

   terested 
  in 
  the 
  business 
  have 
  reason 
  to 
  hope 
  for. 
  

  

  11. 
  GENERAL 
  CONSIDERATIONS. 
  

  

  In 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  claimed 
  by 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  hest 
  

   opportunities 
  for 
  observations 
  that 
  the 
  red 
  snapper 
  is 
  rapidly 
  becom- 
  

   ing 
  scarcer 
  on 
  the 
  grounds 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  taken, 
  it 
  seems 
  eminently 
  de- 
  

   sirable 
  that 
  Phe 
  means 
  for 
  preventing 
  this 
  depletion 
  should 
  receive 
  con 
  

   sideration. 
  For, 
  if 
  it 
  is 
  true 
  i 
  hat 
  a 
  marked 
  diminution 
  has 
  already 
  taken 
  

   place, 
  there 
  is 
  then 
  reason 
  to 
  expect 
  that 
  it 
  will 
  continue 
  with 
  an 
  ever 
  

   increasing 
  ratio 
  until 
  the 
  species 
  is 
  so 
  much 
  reduced 
  that 
  there 
  will 
  no 
  

   longer 
  be 
  any 
  profit 
  in 
  fishing 
  for 
  it. 
  That 
  such 
  an 
  event 
  will 
  happen 
  

   we 
  cannot 
  say, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  safe 
  to 
  assert 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  great 
  misfort- 
  

   une 
  if 
  it 
  did, 
  for 
  not 
  only 
  would 
  an 
  industry 
  be 
  broken 
  up, 
  but 
  the 
  conn- 
  

  

  