508 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



length, cat-rigged or sloop-rigged. Two men form tlie crew, and consider from 5 to 12 barrels a 

 load, satisfying themselves with one trip per week. As there are about seven boats, an averaged 

 estimate of the season's total production would give about 2,500 bushels. The selling price being 

 only 35 or 40 cents per bushel, the cash proceeds will hardly exceed $1,000, to be divided among 

 about fifteen fishermen. A system of sharing is in vogue, by which the proceeds of each day's 

 catch are divided into equal thirds between the boat and each of the two men who constitute her 

 crew. 



The catch at Pensacola often fails to supply the local demand, and additional oysters are 

 obtained from Mobile and Saint Andrew's Bay. Nothing of consequence has been done here in 

 oyster-culture. 



STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES. In the Pensacola fisheries $5,300 are invested in vessels, 

 boats, and seines. To this sum may be added $1,200, which represents the amount invested in 

 shore apparatus. 



A bunch of fish weighs from 20 to 25 pounds. These bunches were sold wholesale from 1850 

 to I860 at $2 to $2.50 apiece. From 1860 to 1870 the value per bunch was $1.50 to $1.75, and from 

 1870 to 1880, $1.25 to $1.75. The former retail prices of salt fish, packed in brine in barrels, at 

 Pensacola, were, per barrel: Mullet, $10; sheepshead, $10; bluefish, $12; pompano, $12; hard- 

 tails, or jurels, $10; redfish, $10; Spanish mackerel, $12. 



The present wholesale prices are $1 per bunch of 25 pounds, or, by weight, 3 cents per pound 

 for all fish under 7 pounds, and 25 cents apiece for all fish weighing 7 pounds and over. 



The present retail prices of salt fish, packed in brine in barrels, are, per barrel: Mullet, $7; 

 sheepshead, $7; bluefish, $8; pompano, $9; jurel, $7; redfish, $7; Spanish mackerel, $8. 



The present price of oysters in the shell is $1 a barrel. 



The total value of the yield of the Pensacola fisheries, from January 1, 1877, to January 1, 

 1878, was $23,970.84 for 555,977 pounds of fish. For the next twelve months it was $22,638.43 for 

 660,154 pounds of fish. 



0. THE FISHERY INTERESTS OF ALABAMA. 



205. STATISTICAL RECAPITULATION. 

 SALT-WATER FISHERIES OF ALABAMA. 



Summary statement of persons employed. 



Detailed statement of capital invested and apparatus employed. 



