THE CUBA REVIEW 



27 



ISLE OF PINES TURTLE FISHING 



A LITTLE KNOWN BUT INTERESTING INDUSTRY— VARIETIES AND PRICES 



Turtle fishing is an Isle of Pines industry which has received but little newspaper mention, 

 and is but sUghtly known outside of the few people directly engaged in it. Around 1,000 

 turtles are shipped yearly from Island Waters during the open season, which is from September 

 1st to May 1st, although many more are caught during the closed season, in spite of the penalty, 

 for private consumption. 



Ail of the marketable varieties are found in the waters adjacent to the Isle, from the small 

 and toothsome terrapin to the immense green turtles, loggerheads and hawk bills. 



Contrary to the usual belief, terrapins are not large, seldom weighing over 10 pounds, 

 and living mostl}' on land and in the salt marshes of the Cienaga and the South Coast. These 

 turtles, which are a great delicacy in the North, are literally found bj' the thousands on the 

 South Coast. 



The species which is of the most value commercially is probablj^ the hawk biU from which 

 the valuable tortoise shell is secured. The meat of this variety is also a great delicacy. The 

 commercial shell is secured by burying the back shell of the tortoise in wet sand for several 

 weeks, after which the segments or plates come apart and are scraped and cleaned and marketed 

 in Havana at from $5 to $S per pound. The shell is then re-shipped to northern markets 

 where it is finally prepared for manufacture and sells at about $40 per pound. Two to five 

 pounds of marketable shell is secured from a large hawk bill. 



The second most important variet}^ and the kind most plentiful of the deep-water turtles 

 of the Island, is the green turtle. These abound around the South Coast and in the Siguanea 

 bay and are caught in nets in the dark of the moon. 



These nets are made from braided cotton line about the thickness of a clothes line and 

 with 18-inch meshes. The turtles are watched at their feeding grounds and followed to their 

 sleeping grounds, which are usually on a rocky bottom in from eight to twent}' feet of water. 

 The nets are then spread over the sleeping grounds on dark nights and allowed to drift back 

 and forth over the turtles which become entangled in them when rising to breathe, which 

 thej^ are compelled to do about every four hours. In the morning the nets are hauled on board 

 the boats and the turtles disentangled. 



A curious feature of the marketing of turtles is that the smaller specimens bring nearly 

 as high a price as the large ones. Small turtles up to 150 pounds bring 10 cents per pound 

 live weight in Havana, while those weighing from 200 to 500 pounds sell from $12 to $20 apiece 

 At the turtle canneries in Key West a flat price per pound is paid for all sizes. The larger 

 ones are usually sent to the States and the small ones sold in Havana. Some shipments have 

 also been made to New York, where far higher prices prevail. One shipment which sold 

 on the dock at Nueva Gerona la.st season for $300, brought $1,500 in New York. The majority 

 of the shipments are made from Los Indios, but a few are shipped from Nueva Gerona. 

 Schooners from Cuba also fish in the Island waters, carrjdng their cargoes direct to Havana. 

 The industry on the Isle is carried on principally by natives of the Cayman Islands who 

 eside on the South Coast.— Isle of Pines Appeal. 



AREA AND POPULATION OF CUBA BY PROVINCES 



Recent official figures give the area and population of Cuba in 1914 as follows: 



Area 

 (Square 

 Province. Kilometers). 



Pinar del Rio 13,781 



Havana 8,529 



]Matanzas 7,857 



Santa Clara 42,179 



Camaguev 27,529 



Oriente. .\ 66,230 



All Cuba 166,122 



ACIDO FOSFORICO 



Ahora es el tiempo para hacer un pedido para llenar sus necesidades de Acido para clarificar el aziicar 

 Se de la atencion especial & todos pedidos. Escrlbannos en sesuida pidiendo muestras y precios. 



BOWKER CHEMICAL COMPANY, 60 Trinity Place, New York 



