[13] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 



brackish as well as the salt waters of this region. They are taken in 

 Shrimp seines, which were introduced at this locality in 1872, and also 

 in skim and cast nets, which have been in use for a much longer period. 

 The Shrimp seines measure from 30 to 40 yards in length, and from 6 

 to 10 feet in depth, and have a half-inch mesh. The season's catch for 

 each seine is about 500 bushels. Fishing is carried on in the daytime, 

 but not with any precise regularity, on account of the limited demand. 

 The Shrimp are boiled in brine, in kettles holding from 10 to 50 quarts, 

 and are then spread out to dry. They are shipped to market in baskets. 



The Shrimp fishery is one of the most important in the vicinity of 

 Charleston, South Carolina. From March to June, the larger Prawns 

 alone are taken, but later the smaller Shrimp replace them entirely. 

 The fishery continues from the last of March, or first of April, until the 

 middle of No vember, and is carried on mainly within 15 miles of the city, 

 and during the two or three hours of low tide of each night. The boats 

 return to the city before daylight, so as to supply bait to the boat fish- 

 ermen, after which the Shrimp remaining are sold in small lots to men, 

 womer, and children, who vend them through the city. During the 

 first of the season (1880), some six to eight seine-boats, with crews of 

 about six men each, are engaged in this fishery. The catch is variable, 

 being sometimes better in one locality and again in another ; and often 

 from 10 to 20 bushels may be the result of a night's seining by one or 

 more boats, while the remainder will obtain only 4 or 5 bushels each. 

 Prawns are considered to form one of the best baits for Whiting, which 

 are in season at the same time, and for this purpose the greater part of 

 the catch is frequently sold. The shrimpers sell the Prawns by the plate- 

 ful, each containing from one to one and a half quarts, the customary 

 price being about 50 cents per plate. The price sometimes rises to one 

 dollar per plate, or at the rate of about two cents for each Prawn. 

 During the first few weeks of the Prawn fishery, it is one of the most 

 profitable of all the fisheries in this section. Early in May the Prawns 

 become more abundant, and the seines are abandoned for cast-nets, the 

 number of persons engaging in the fishery also increasing at the same 

 time. During the height of the season, at least 75 cast-nets are in use, 

 and, in June, the daily catch per boat exceeds one hundred plates. 



The Prawns are replaced by the Shrimp late in June, and the lat- 

 ter remain near the shore until November. The number of shrimpers 

 continues about the same as the prawn- catchers, in June, until near the 

 close of the season ; but the price soon falls to 25 cents, then to 15 cents, 

 and finally to 10 cents per plate. The greater part of the catch is sold 

 at home, only a few hundred bushels being shipped away annually. 

 The Shrimp and Prawn fishery of Georgia gives employment to about 

 400 men during the height of the season, a large part of the catch being- 

 sent to the New York markets. The best shrimping season on the 

 Florida coast is during Sex>tember and October. Cast-nets measuring 

 from 10 to 15 feet in diameter are preferred to the seines. Before ship- 



