AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2825 



menhaden, blueflsb, and striped bass to some extent, but striped bass 

 is more an estuary fish coming into brackish waters, and can scarcely, 

 with propriety, be mentioned in this connection. 



Q. What have you to say about the drum! A. It is a fish that can 

 be taken in almost 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 tish, and is caught in the rapid channel- ways between 

 the shores and islands on the coast. 



Q. Especially, perhaps, in iSouth Carolina? A. Only stragglers come 

 on the eastern 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 has 

 ever been tried; it is worth almost too much as fresh fish. 



Q. Is the 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 five to twenty pounds. It is caught in 

 great numbers in the winter season, and taken alive to Cuba. The Con- 

 necticut fishermen, after they have finished their halibut and cod sum- 

 mer 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 the wells of vessels, and 

 is sold at very high prices in Havaua. 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 pound 

 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 bottou and makes a barrier for the fish. They are held down by a 

 chain. There is also the heart, bowl and pocket. The fish coming 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 recep- 

 tacle 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 inclosure, and the same process goes 

 on; the fish swim round and round, but never find their way out back 

 through the opening. You may leave the pound for a week, and you 

 will have there all the tish that have come in," except the striped bass, 

 which is the only tish 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 tish 

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

 pocket, where the tish 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 by a chain, so that it will touch the bottom and not permit 

 fish to go under it. (Diagram of trap exhibited.) The trap is only used 

 in the waters of Rhode Island, and is used for scup, tautog, and sea-bass. 

 There are no stakes used to the trap. It is a rectangular .space of net- 



