58 FISHING-GROUJimS OF NOETH AMERICA. 



southwestern Florida, and of Louisiana and Texas, where the shores are mainly uneven and marshy, 

 but where they dp occur fishing establishments are formed each season. In the regions most con- 

 venient to markets nearly all the favorable seining flats have been secured by fishermen or fishing 

 firms, who build permanent houses and wharves for the prosecution of their business. 



At other and more remote points, temporary shanties, generally constructed from palmetto 

 leaves, are built, which are occupied one year by one crew and the next year by another, according 

 to whichever reaches the locality first. Those nearest the markets are the most used and have the 

 most elaborate and complete outfits. Probably in the course of a few years all suitable sites will 

 have been secured. Usually they occur near the entrances to bays or rivers, or on islands or pro- 

 jecting points of land — places where schools of fishes coming from, or going to the sea, must 

 approach near the shore. 



The region from Appalachee Bay to the mouth of the Mississippi Eiver has an almost unbroken 

 shore that is suitable for seining. As a result, there are few permanent stations, and the fishing is 

 carried on from small vessels and boats that accommodate the crew and their catch while on short 

 trips &om the nearest markets. 



THE FLORIDA SPONGE GROUNDS. 



The Florida sponging-grounds form three separate and elongate stretches along the 

 southern and western coasts of the State. The first includes nearly all the Florida Reefs ; the 

 second extends from Anclote Keys to Cedar Keys, and the third from just north of Cedar Keys to 

 Saint Mark's, in Appalachee Bay. The Florida Reef grounds have a linear extent of about one 

 hundred and twenty miles, beginning near Key Biscayne, in the northeast, .and ending in the 

 south, at iJTorthwest Channel, just west of Key "West. The northeastern half of the grounds are 

 very narrow, having an average width of only about five miles, and being limited to the outer 

 side of the reefs. At about the Matacumbe Keys the grounds broaden out so as to cover 

 the entire width of the reefs, which are much broader here than at the north. The entire 

 southern half of the grounds have more or less the same breadth, which is about thirteen or 

 fourteen miles. The second sponge-ground begins just south of Anclote Keys, with a breadth of 

 seven or eight miles, but rapidly ■broadens out toward the north to a width of fifteen miles, which 

 it maintains from a point about opposite Bay Port to Sea Horse Reef, just south of Cedar Keys. 

 The total length of this sponging-ground is about sixty geographical miles. Its distance from the 

 shore varies somewhat ; at the south the inner edge approaches within four or five miles of the 

 mainland, and comes close upon Anclote Keys ; but throughout the remainder of its extent it is 

 distant from six to eight miles from the. shore, until it touches the shallow bottom and reefs of 

 Cedar Keys. The depth of w^ater on these grounds, as indicated on the Coast Survey charts, 

 ranges from three to six fathoms, but many portions are undoubtedly shallower than this. The 

 northern sponging-ground, which maintains a nearly uniform width throughout, is about seventy 

 miles long by about fifteen miles broad. It approaches to within about five miles of the shore, 

 and terminates just off the mouth of Saint Mark's Eiver. The depth of the water upon these 

 grounds is the same as upon the next one to the south— from three to five fathoms. 



The total area of the Florida sponging-grounds, which are now being worked upon, including 

 also those which were formerly fished but have since been more or less abandoned, may be 

 roughly stated at about three thousand square geographical miles. This does not, however, 

 probably indicate the entire extent of the sponging-grounds of the Florida waters, for the fact 

 that new grounds are being constantly discovered would indicate that there might still be more 

 to find, and it is certain that no very strenuous efforts have yet been made to extend the already 

 known grounds, the discovery of new sections generally having been made by accident. 



