24 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



At the bay of Boqueron, a few miles south of Porto Eeal, fishing is 

 engaged in by 4 men with 2 small boats of sloop and schooner rig. 

 Hooks and lines and pots are used in taking the limited catch, which 

 is disposed of in the neighborhood. 



ARROYO. 



From 30 to 60 men engage more or less in fishing at this place, with 

 haul seines, cast nets, and pots, the larger part of the catch being taken 

 in jiots, and chiefly from May to August; during the remainder of the 

 year most of the fishermen work on plantations. They make their own 

 boats, which are roughly built, but very strong, without decks or wells, 

 and 15 feet long by 6 to 7 feet beam. Thirty-five boats are in use, with 

 an average value of $50; 2 men go in each. 



Turtles are found at all seasons, being most plentiful from September 

 to the last of December, during which time they deposit their eggs in 

 the sand of the beach. The catch is small, and made only when turtles 

 are found on shore. The value of the fishery lies chiefly in the shell of 

 the hawksbill, for which the fishermen receive $3 a pound, Spanish 

 money. The largest shells weigh from 5 to 6 pounds; the meat is sold 

 to the natives at 4 to 6 cents a pound. 



In the latter part of November, 1898, this section was fished for 

 turtles by the crews of two small cat-rigged vessels from the English 

 island of Tortugas, who used large-mesh nets to which wooden decoy 

 turtles were attached, the nets being set near the coral reefs oft" the 

 harbor of Arroyo. The vessels remained two weeks and it was reported 

 that a fair catch was made. 



Between April and September trolling lines are used, chiefly for king- 

 fish, which are said to weigh from 20 to 30 pounds on the average, some 

 being much heavier. Among the other fish taken in trolling are the 

 capitan and barracuda. Trolling is done between sunrise and 8 or 9 

 in the morning. 



A few haul-seines are employed. The largest are 200 feet long, and 

 10 to 15 feet deep, with a bag net in the center; the mesh is 1^ inches 

 (square) in the wings and 1 inch in the bag. There are 6 small seines, 

 each 120 feet long, with ^ inch (square) mesh, and are without any bag 

 attachment. Small seines are chiefly for taking bait for hook-and-line 

 fishing. Six cast nets are employed along the shore. Six trawls are 

 operated, having from 50 to 200 hooks each, with snoods 2 feet long 

 and placed 4 feet apart. The buoy to the trawl is said to have a bell 

 attached by which the fishermen j udge as to the best time to take it up. 

 Trawls are generally fished during the night. Sharks are numerous 

 and often destroy an entire trawl outfit. 



Fish pots are used in from 20 to 25 fathoms of water. They are lifted 

 once a day in removing the fish. The pots are of larger size than at 

 most places, being 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 18 inches deep. The 

 frame is of mangrove wood, and the body of split wild cane, woven in 

 2-inch, six-sided meshes. The body and frame are fastened together 



