162 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Table of products. 



Species. 



Blue-fish 



Buflfalo-flsh 



Cat-fish 



Channel bass or red-fish 



Crevalle 



Croakers 



Drum 



Plounders 



Groupers 



Hog-fish 



Jew-fish 



Mullet, fresh 



Mullet, salted 



Perch 



Pike 



Species. 



Pompano 



Red snajiper 



Shoep.shead 



Spanish mackerel 



Striped bass 



Sturgeon 



Trout 



Other fish 



Shrimp 



Crabs 



Turtles 



Terrapins 



Oysters 



Total 7,174,550 286,610 



Lbs. 



17, 850 



464, 791 



467, 504 



40, 710 



8,950 



22, 400 



1, Oil, 620 



60, 500 



360, 530 



"138,120 



237, 385 



3,880 



2 2,491,370 



Value. 



$812 



17,453 



21, 723 



1,939 



384 



984 



45, 525 



2,646 



7,464 



3,689 



6,860 



507 



94, 663 



' Represents 424,360 in number. ^ Represents 355,910 bushels. 



The principal localities where the Texas fisheries are prosecuted are 

 the bays formed between the mainland and the outlying chain of 

 islands and peninsulas, viz, Galveston, Matagorda, Aransas, Corpus 

 Christi, and Laguna Madre; also Sabine Lake, in the extreme eastern 

 part of the State; this, however, is an expansion of the Sabine Kiver 

 rather than a bay. The only important fishery prosecuted outside of 

 these indentations is the red-snapper fishery carried on in the Gulf 

 of Mexico from the port of Galveston. 



The most important of these localities from a fishery point of view 

 is Galveston Bay, the value of its fisheries in 1897 approximating 

 $102,772, whereas in 1890 it amounted to $160,869, the decrease being 

 greatest in the yield of oysters, the value of which in 1890 was $72,140 

 and in 1897 $36,201. The value of the yield by seines in Galveston 

 Bay decreased from $79,909 in 1890 to $00,261 in 1897. 



Second in importance to Galveston Bay is Corpus Christi Bay, the 

 value of its fishery yield in 1897 being $52,370, against $45,625 in 1890, 

 the increase being in the yield by seines, due to an increase in the 

 number employed. The value of the oyster product of Corpus Christi 

 Bay in 181'0 was $18^350, whereas in 1897 it was $14,977. A noticeable 

 feature of the fisheries of this bay is the large increase in the yield of 

 shrimp, from 10,000 pounds in 1890 to 224,400 pounds in 1897. 



The value of the fisheries of Matagorda Bay are only slightly less 

 than those of Corpus Christi, amounting to $51,328 in 1897. This is a 

 great improvement over 1890, when the value was but $33,693. The 

 increase has occurred i)rincipally in the seine fishery, the value of 

 which in 1890 amounted to $3,593 and in 1897 to $25,358, the number 

 of seines used increasing in the same time from 5 to 29. The oyster 

 yield of Matagorda Bay was 109,350 bushels, worth $29,200 in 1890, 

 and 95,816 bushels, valued at $23,768, in 1897. The fishery resources 

 of Matagorda Bay are second to none on the Texas coast, their present 

 minor rank being due to lack of sufficient transportation facilities, 

 althougli they are now very much better than in 1890. Port Lavaca 

 is the shipping-point for the products of this bay. 



