808 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



same time by a " sphincter " or " puckering string." The size of the mesh of this net at the mouth 

 is from 1 to 1J inches, but it gradually diminishes to one-quarter of an inch at the lower end. 

 The boats employed in seining are from 12 to 25 feet long, rather narrow and sharp at the ends, 

 flat bottomed, and with thick heavy sides ; they are built by the Chinese themselves of redwood 

 lumber. 



The fishing is usually carried on in rather deep water near the shore (12 to 20 fathoms) on 

 the flood tide, and 3,000 pounds is said to be an average daily catch. 



MARKETING. After the day's fishing is over it is the usual custom to carry the fresh shrimp 

 to the Vallejo street market, in San Francisco, in live baskets covered with a netting, which has a 

 hole in the center closed by means of a puckering string. At the market the live shrimps are 

 sold at 10 cents a pound, and those remaining unsold are carried back to the Chinese settlement 

 and put at once into boiling brine. 



METHODS OF PREPARING SHRIMP FOR EXPORT. The kettle for boiling the shrimp is a 

 rectangular iron tank, 6 feet long by 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep, with a fire-place underneath. 

 After sufficient boiling, care being taken to prevent over cooking, the shrimps are taken out 

 and spread to dry upon level plats of hard ground, which have been previously stripped of 

 grass and rendered perfectly smooth. They are spread out and turned occasionally by means of 

 a hoe-like broom. After four or five days' time or when perfectly dry, they are crushed under large 

 wooden pestles, or trod upon by the Chinese in wooden shoes, for the purpose of loosening the 

 meats from the outer chitiuous covering ; after which the entire mixture is put through a fanning 

 mill, for the actual separation of the meats and shells. This fauniug-niill. which is rather a crude 

 affair, is constructed of wood by the Chinese, on precisely the same principle as the one used for 

 winnowing grain. It measures about 8 feet long by 5 feet high, and consists of a square box, 

 divided on the inside for the passage of the separated shells and meats, with a hopper above, and 

 a large fan-wheel worked by a crank at one end. 



WHERE SOLD; USES; SHIPPING. The meats are partly used at home or at the various inland 

 Chinese settlements, but are mostly shipped to China. The shells are also utilized as manure to 

 some extent about San Francisco, but like the meats, are mostly sent to China, where they serve 

 as a fertilizer for rice, the tea-plant, &c. In San Francisco they sell at about 25 cents per hundred 

 weight. Both the meats and shells are shipped to China in sacks. The trade is entirely in the 

 hands of Chinese merchants, who ship by way of Hong Kong. The meats are eaten by all classes 

 in China, but are cheaper and less esteemed than the native shrimps, which are comparatively 

 scarce. 



Shrimp are said to be an excellent producer when used as food for fowls. For this purpose 

 they are broken up, soaked, and mixed with a meal of wheat, oats, or corn. The shells are also 

 sometimes fed to poultry. 



VALUE OF THE SHRIMP SOLD FRESH IN SAN FRANCISCO. The amount of shrimp sold in 

 the San Francisco market during twelve months of 1879-'80, is estimated by Mr. Garibaldi of that 

 city at about 200,000 pounds, wLich at the rate of 10 cents per pound at the Clay street market 

 were valued at $20,000. 



Many crabs, clams, &c., are also taken in the nets of the Chinese and sent to the Vallejo street 

 market, San Francisco. 



EXPORTATION. It is impossible to give more than an approximate estimate of the value of the 

 yearly export of shrimp and shrimp-shells from San Francisco, on account of the practice of lump- 

 ing together the shrimp, abalones, other invertebrates and even some of the fish products in the cus- 



