FISHERIES OF PORTO RICO. 21 



Gill nets are about 600 feet in length by 12 feet in depth, with mesh 

 of 2-inch bar. They are drifted with the tide in the bay. Often the 

 water near the nets is pounded with poles to driv:e fish into the meshes. 

 Hemp twine from Spain is used. For haul seines No. 8 twine is used 

 in the wiugs and No. 5 in the bunt. The fishermen pay 75 cents a pound 

 for this twine, buying a few balls at a time. 



The boats are very expensive as compared with the cost of similar 

 ones in the United States. All are open, with no deck or cabin, and 

 use lateen sails. The largest, with keel bottom, cost from $200 to $300 

 each; the smaller keel boats cost $100 to $150, and common skiffs $40 

 to $50 each. In fishing, 2 to 5 men go in each boat. 



Trolling hooks are used outside of the harbor of San Juan as far as 

 10 or 12 miles, but fishing with them is not followed with any regularity. 

 In troll fishing large fish are caught, the largest being the arbujo, which 

 is taken in deep water at all seasons and is said to weigh as much as 50 

 or 100 pounds. 



Fish weirs or traps are used in the Bayamon Eiver by building a 

 hedge of canes across the stream with a gateway for passing boats. 

 The hedge is made with indentations or pockets at various places on 

 each side. Fish in their movements up or down stream enter these 

 pockets and are taken out with dip nets. In some streams hedges have 

 no pockets, but instead, funnel-shaped cones of bamboo or cane splints 

 are inserted at various places. Fish seeking a passage through the 

 hedge enter these cones and become wedged, few escaping. 



Fishing is carried on at all seasons, fish being most plentiful during 

 July. Dynamite has sometimes been illegally used to kill fish in some 

 streams and in the bay. 



The fishermen at Palo Seco give more attention to fishing than at 

 most places. Prices received by them, 4 to cents a pound, have in 

 the past left them but a small margin of profit after the payment of 

 expenses and taxes; at the same time tlie consumer had to pay 15 cents 

 and upward a pound for undressed fish. 



ARECIBO. 



From 40 to 50 men at this port follow fishing for a living at all sea- 

 sons of the year when the weather permits. 



The fishing-grounds are along the beach at the city front, and 3 to 

 4 miles out, and in the nearby waters of the Rio Grande. Several 

 species of fine edible fish are found at all seasons of the year. 



The boats used are of small size, with keel or flat bottom. They are 

 built at Arecibo, and, as in other j)laees, are expensive, a small, open 

 keel boat bringing $100 to $150, and the common flat-bottom skiffs 

 $30 to $50, in Spanish money. Twelve to 15 boats with lateen sails 

 are in use. 



A large portion of the catch is made by 2 haul seines, each 360 feet 

 long by 12 feet deep, 12 to 14 men being required to haul one through 

 the swells and surf of the beach. The seines are made by the fishermen. 



