192 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



to the vertebral column inst ead of being loose and lying about the muscular parts } 

 as in herrings. 



Q. It is also salted in the South ? — A. Yes. 



Q. Is there now a large business in menhaden, or is there likely to be ? — A. It is a 

 business capable of almost any extension for which tliere is a demand. Tbere is no 

 limit apparently, speaking in reasonable terms, to the number that can be taken, any 

 more than there is in the North. There is nothing like the same quantity taken in 

 the Southern as in the Northern waters. It is taken somewhat for the manufacture 

 of oil, but the business is not fully developed. 



Q. What other fish did you mention in the South ? — A. The mullet, menhaden, blue- 

 fish, and striped bass to some extent, but striped bass is more an estuary fish comiug 

 into brackish waters, and can scarcely, witji propriety, be mentioned in this connec- 

 tion. 



Q. What have you to say about the drum ? — A. It is a fish that can be taken in al- 

 most any desired quantity. It is obtained weighing up to 100 to 120 pounds, but it 

 generally weighs from 10 to 20 pounds. There is the channel bass, which can be also 

 taken in any desired quantities. It is entirely a sea fish, and is caught in the rapid 

 channel-ways between the shores and islands on the coast. 



Q. Especially, perhaps, in South Carolina? — A. Only stragglers come on the east 

 ern coast, but it is found in enormous abundance from North Carolina down to the 

 southern extremity of Florida, and in the Gulf of Mexico. 



Q. Can the fish be salted for the market ? — A. I don't think it lias ever been tried; 

 it is worth almost too much as fresh fish. 



Q. Is tbe fish called red snapper there? — A. Yes; it is very abundant on the coast 

 of Florida. It is a large fish, of a blood-red color, as red as goldfish, and weighs 

 from 5 to 20 pounds. It is caught in great numbers in the winter season, and taken 

 alive to Cuba. The Connecticut fishermen, after they have finished their halibut and 

 cod summer and autumn fishing, go down to Florida, and spend two or three months 

 catching red snappers and other fish and taking them to Cuba, selling them as fresh 

 fish, alive. It is taken in tbe wells of vessels, and is sold at very high prices in Ha- 

 vana. Sometimes, on the return trip, they take a load to New York, and sell them 

 in that market alive. 



Q. In regard to pounds, they must be constructed in muddy ground? — A. In almost 

 any ground, except sand, because the sand shifts. 



Q. To construct a pound, you drive in piles or posts, and then make a straight line 

 of net-work right up? — A. Yes. [Diagram of a pond exhibited.] The stakes are 

 driven right down with a pile-driver, and from stake to stake is extended a wall of 

 netting, which extends down to the bottom and makes a barrier for the fish. They 

 are held down by a chain. There is also the heart, bowl, and pocket. The fish com- 

 ing along the coast strike the wall of netting, and very naturally, in endeavoring 

 to skirt it, they turn seaward and go along till they get into this receptacle either 

 way. A fish never turns a corner, and when it gets within the netting it swims round 

 and round, but never goes back again. Then gradually it is led into the inner in- 

 closure, and the same process goes on ; the fish swim round and round, but never find 

 their way out back through the openiug. You may leave the pound for a week, and 

 you will have there all the fish that have come in, except the striped bass, which is 

 the only fish you cannot cheat in a pound; and you very rarely take them in that 

 way. Then when they come to haul the pounds, they throw a gate of netting across 

 "the opening, and in the bowl the netting extends over the bottom and comes up the 

 side. They gather up the end and haul it over the boat, and gradually concentrate 

 the fish in a corner, and turn them or throw them over into the permanent pocket, 

 where the fish are kept until ready for market. Fish are kept there sometimes two 

 or three weeks or more for a demand in the market ; if there is a glut in the market, 

 they may keep perhaps 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 fish in one of these inclosures. 



Q. How is the pocket formed ?— A. It is a net-work, fastened down to the bottom 



