380 . REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
demand, except at Galveston Bay. Occasionally the Galveston fleet 
is for weeks unable to supply the market demands; but in Matagorda, 
Aransas, and Corpus Christi bays, and at Point Isabel many of the 
crews are frequently idle for several days on account of an oversupplied 
market. 
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and terrapin (Malaclemmys palustris) 
are occasionally taken in the bay seines while being hauled for fish. 
A small chain is also sometimes attached to the lead line of the seine and 
a haul is made especially for them. This is done chiefly at Aransas 
Bay. The terrapin taken weigh about 3 pounds each and are sold by the 
fishermen at from $4 to $15 per dozen. They do not possess the fine 
flavor of the Maryland diamond-back. The turtle average from 5 to 
20 pounds and sell for about 3 cents per pound. They are the young 
of the green turtle common on this coast. 
Believing that the fish are caught in greater quantities than their 
natural fecundity can make good, there is a desire on the part of many 
persons, especially those interested in developing the sporting fisheries 
of Texas, to restrict in some way the use of seines. While the supply 
of fish may be decreasing, yet there does not appear to be an urgent 
necessity for very great restriction. The cessation of the seine fishery 
in the bays for four months from May to August, which is the plan gen- 
erally urged, would throw entirely out of employment over 350 men, 
removing from the coast towns a monthly revenue of more than $12,000, 
and taking from the market a cheap and wholesome article of food. It 
would also seriously affect the marketing of fish taken during the winter, 
since purchasers in the interior would prefer obtaining their supplies 
from such sources as could provide for them continuously throughout the 
year. If restriction be deemed expedient and necessary, the prevention 
of the marketing of large fish, say of redfish weighing over 14 pounds 
(advocates of a close time contend that redfish, more than any other 
species, require special protection), would largely answer the purpose 
without embarrassing persons depending on the bay-seine fishery for a 
living. These large redfish are the spawning fish. They are difficult 
to market, being coarse and of poor flavor, and are sometimes even 
thrown away. 
For the purpose of comparison, the total catch by bay seines at the 
various fishing localities in the State during each of the past four years 
is herewith appended: 
1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 
Localities. a = Ears = 
Pounds. | Value.| Pounds. | Value. | Pounds. } Value.| Pounds. | Value. 
--| 42,160 | $2,380 | 45, 600 | $2,630 | 45,750 | $2,795 | 47, 000 | $2, 893 
1,455, 500 | 69, 140 |1, 469, 060 | 70,320 |1, 489, 400 | 74, 668 |1, 418, 500 | 72, 999 
| Sabine Lake . 
| Galveston Ba 
Matagorda Bs --; 74,800 | 2, 860 81,000 | 2,950 88,800 | 3,110, 102,750} 3,593 
Aransas Bay....--.-. 1,089, 000 | 32,890 | 781,000 | 23, 650 /1,076, 000 | 38, 050 |1, 244,100 | 43, 562 
Corpus Christi.Bay..| 540,000 | 18,900 | 605,000 | 21,175 | 685,000 | 23,801 | 719,950 | 24, 965 
Laguna Madre....... 91,800 | 3,400 86,000 | 3, 200 81,050 | 2,759 76,800 | 2,580 
3, 293, 260 |129, 570 |3, 067, 660 |123, 925 |3, 466, 000 |145, 183 3, 609, 100 |150, 592 
