806. HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



coast. The shrimp caught iu Barataria Bay are mostly sent to New Orleans, where they are mar- 

 keted fresh, or canned for shipment. These shrimp are described as being of large size and fine 

 flavor; they are mostly caught on the grassy bottoms of the bay, and are shipped to New Orleans 

 in steamboats or luggers, without ice. They are carried in baskets and sell at prices which vary 

 according to their abundance. The average price to the fishermen is about 3 cents per pound. 



Galveston takes most of the shrimp caught in that vicinity, both for the fresh market and for 

 canning. The fishermen sell at an average price of about 25 cents per bucketful. 



Shrimp and prawns are very abundant in Apalachicola Hay and near Cedar Keys, Fla. 

 At the former place they are sometimes taken in small quantities for shipment to New Orleans, 

 but they have given rise to no regularly establish ed trade. For shipping they are first cooked 

 and then packed dry in salt. At Cedar Keys the best mouths for shrimp fishing are said to be 

 October and March. At both places they are much esteemed as bait for many kinds offish. 



Three kinds of shrimp are recognized in the New Orleans market the river shrimp, caught on 

 the shores of the Mississippi River; the lake shrimp, found in the lakes and bays inside of the Gulf 

 coast ; and the Gulf shrimp from the outer shores of the Gulf of Mexico, mostly to the west of the 

 mouth of the Mississippi River. The first species is not abundant, and is taken from the beginning 

 of spring to the fall, in small quantities only ; the lake shrimp is obtained only during the equinoctial 

 season; but the Gulf shrimp is more or less abundant the year round. In the rivers the shrimp are 

 taken by means of cane baskets, sunk to the bottom near the banks, but in the lakes aud Gulf they 

 are captured iu seines as already explained. Fresh shrimp are very extensively sold in the markets 

 of New Orleans and large quantities are put up iu hermetically sealed cans for shipment to all parts 

 of the United States as well as to England aud France. About five hundred and sixty men are 

 engaged in this industry in connection with the New Orleans markets and canneries. 



3. SHRIMP CANNING. 



NEW ORLEANS. In New Orleans, La., there is an establishment owned by the Messrs. G. W. 

 Dunbar's Sons, where shrimp are put up in hermetically sealed cans, by a process similar to that 

 practiced farther north with crabs aud lobsters. This factory is not limited to the canning of 

 shrimp alone, but preserves many kinds of fruit in their season, falling back upon the shrimp 

 when they are most abundant. The shrimp season extends over about five months of the fall and 

 winter, during which time as many shrimp are put up as can be procured. Sometimes a week or 

 two passes when none are to be had, but as a rule the work goes steadily on through the five 

 months. 



The working arrangements of the Messrs. Duubar are of the latest and most approved pattern, 

 aud the entire business is conducted uuder a single roof, even to the making of the tin boxes and 

 the solder. In the shrimp season twenty-five men aud one hundred and forty girls are employed. 

 The former make cans and superintend the packing, while the latter prepare the meats by remov- 

 ing the shells and appendages after the shrimp have been boiled. Then the meats are weighed 

 and placed in the cans, which are sealed aud put through a similar process to that already 

 described for lobsters and crabs. Messrs. Duubar's Sous put up on an average 1,500 one and-one- 

 half pound cans of shrimp per day, or a total of about 234,000 cans per season. Their invested 

 capital is about $30,000. 



GALVESTON. This industry was first started iu Galveston, Tex. in 1879, by the Messrs. Pea- 

 con Brothers, but at the time their establishment was visited by Mr. Silas Stearns, who supplies 

 the data for this report, they had been running only about a year and were, therefore, not fully 

 underway. There was, however, every indication of success, and the firm was anticipating the 



