THE FISHERIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 507 



went North the city was supplied by the few small boats of the place, while in some cases slaves 

 were detailed to supply the tables of their masters. 



CHANGES IN THE EXTENT AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES DURING THE PAST TWENTY 

 TEAKS. The fisheries of Charleston at present are quite different from those just described. With 

 the completion of the Florida railroads extensive fisheries have been established in that State, and 

 its fishermen are now supplying a large part of the country formerly dependent on Charleston. 

 This competition has had its effect upon the fisheries of Charleston, and has tended toward a great 

 reduction of the fishery interests of the place. Other causes, however, have more than counter- 

 acted the injurious effects of competition, and the ^fisheries of to-day are more extensive than those 

 of the past. 



The emancipation proclamation threw a large class of people upon their own resources, and 

 the first impulse of freedom led many to forsake their old masters and plantation life, and to seek 

 employment in the city. With their natural love for boating and fishing many of them drifted into 

 the fisheries as a desirable way of obtaining a livelihood. Finding their earnings equal to those of 

 any other class, and the work usually lighter, the number of fishermen has gradually increased 

 until in 1880 there were nearly 600 people either catching or handling fish during some portion of 

 the year, with about 1,700 people depending upon them for support. Of this entire number, 94 

 per cent, are negroes, about 4 per cent, are Spaniards, and only 2 per cent, are Americans. 



The demand for fish has greatly increased, for many of the negroes who cannot afford the lux- 

 ury of a meat dinner, live largely on the cheaper grades of fish as giving the greatest bulk for the 

 least money. New markets in other sections have also been opened up, and Charleston is now sup- 

 plying many of the villages of North and South Carolina and Georgia with their fish; while a few 

 are sent to the markets of the north. The result of the change above mentioned is that Charles- 

 ton is no longer dependent upon the northern fishermen, but is supplied chiefly by her own citizens; 

 and instead of the fifteen northern smacks of 1860, there is now but one, with ten additional owned 

 in Charleston, seven of which fish during the entire year, and the others fish occasionally while 

 acting as harbor pilot boats. 



THE VESSEL FISHERIES OF CHARLESTON. The smacks vary in size from 10 to 30 tons, and in 

 value from $300 to $-',00!'. They are manned and officered exclusively by negroes and Spaniards, 

 carrying from four to six men each. They fish wholly for blackfish (S. atrarius), though a few por- 

 gies (Stenotomus chrysops and Pagellus sp), jacks (Seriola carolinensisf), red-snappers (Lutjanus 

 Blackfordii), bastard-snappers (Sparits pagrus), grunts (Diabasis chrysoptents and I), formosus), 

 bream (Sargus Holbrool'ii), squirrel-fish (Diplcctrum fasciculare), and bake (Pliycis JSarllii), are 

 taken. They make Charleston their headquarters, and remain in harbor during the stormy weather. 

 The grounds visited are the coral banks, 10 to 18 miles from the shore, extending to Bull's Bay on 

 the north, and to Saint Helena Sound on the south. They are usually absent from four to six days 

 on a trip, and when sudden storms arise they often put into the nearest harbor for shelter. 



The fish are taken wholly with hand-lines from the vessel's deck. One man usually tends two 

 lines with four to eight hooks each, the lead being placed at the extreme end several feet below the 

 hooks to prevent them from becoming entangled in the coral of the bottom. 



The catch varies greatly from day to day and from year to year, and is claimed to be less than 

 formerly, though we find no good reason for believing that such is the case. 



In January, 1858, the smack Connecticut, of Noank, Conn., took 3,200 blackfish in a single 

 day; and in the winter of 1872-'73, the Althea Franklin, Capt. B. F. Baker, of the same port, 

 landed 45,000 " count" blackfish, equal to 50,000 individuals, beside 5,000 other fish, between Oc- 

 tober 1 and April 15. At present the catch averages 30,000 fish yearly for each smack, and the 



