546 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



sent to market. Several specimens offish thus cnred were badly treated; tbey were haggled with 

 knives, did not have the black stomach-lining removed, and were made more disgusting by the 

 unclean brine. These fish are sold to inland settlers all over the State of Florida. 



BISHOP'S FISHERY. The latter of the two fisheries on Palmasola Bay is named Bishop's 

 fishery, being managed by a man of that name. The fishermen, five in number, are all Americans. 



One seine is used here; it is CO fathoms long and 12 feet deep, with IJ-inch mesh. Fonr men 

 are required to handle it. 



The only boat here is a flat-bottomed one. The conveniences for handling and curing the 

 fish are very limited. 



At this place are a couple of palmetto shanties, one of which is used as a kitchen, and the 

 other as a sleeping apartment, in which also they clean and store the fish. 



The fish put up here are barreled for home use only. The market prices are the same as at 

 Sarasota. 



FISHERY AT PALM KEY. 



APPALACHICOLA FISHERY AT PALM KEY. At the north end of Palm Key, or Anna Maria, 

 is the Palm Key fishery, called also the Appalachicola fishery. In 1879 it was occupied by men 

 from Appalachicola; hence the latter name. They had a shanty for storing and cleaning the fish, 

 and a smaller one which they used as a kitchen. The men lived on board the vessel which 

 accompanied them. In this gang were seven men ; their boat and seine were much smaller than 

 those in use at other fisheries near by. 



MULLET-CURING AT PALM KEY. Their method of curing was similar to that practiced at 

 Appalachicola, but differs from the methods used in South Florida. As soon as cleaned, the fish 

 having been split down the back, beheaded, and washed, they are dry-salted and packed in large 

 pork or beef barrels, in which they are allowed to remain several days. They are then taken out 

 and carefully packed in the white-pine barrels of Boston manufacture, furnished at Appalachicola 

 by Mr. Murat. The brine, which has formed around the fish while in the pork barrels, is placed in 

 a large kettle, boiled and strained until it is quite clear and pure, having been separated from the 

 bloody and slimy matter which comes from the fish. As soon as cold, this clarified brine is 

 poured into the box in which the fish are packed. 



The Appalachicola fishermen are noted for their neatness and dispatch in handling salt-fish, 

 and their crew at this place is no exception to the rule. In 1879 the mullet appeared to avoid the 

 north end of Palm Key, where they usually collect in large numbers, and therefore the men had 

 no chance to exhibit their skill and speed just referred to. In three months of that year they only 

 put up 35 barrels of fish. 



The amount of fish caught here is included in the statistics of the Appalachicola fisheries. 



FISHERIES OF TAMPA BAY. 



FISHERIES OF TAMPA BAY. The shores of Tampa Bay differ but little from those of the bay? 

 lying to the south. The waters are deeper and broader, and therefore the shores more generally 

 terminate in sandy beaches and little bluff's, where the waves and currents have acted with unusual 

 force. There are some points where the features of the coast off Monroe County are reproduced, 

 the shoals extending a considerable distance into the bay, the shores being cut up into small, low, 

 mangrove islands, separated by shoal channels of water. The land is everywhere covered with a 

 dense growth, in the dry places, of pines, oaks, palmettos, and other trees peculiar to the climate, 

 and in the wet places, of mangroves, for the most part. About Ihe lower part of the bay, and 



