274 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
elders, until we occasionally see them in what is called the chicken stage of growth, so 
called from the resemblance of their flesh to that of the feathered barnyard favorite. 
The foregoing few items are about all that is known as to habits, but sufficient 
seems to be established to form a reasonable hypothesis that much might be done 
toward protecting the young and possibly caring for them until of marketable size. 
At present the probabilities are that but an exceedingly small number survive the 
first week of existence, as low, perhaps, as 2 to 3 per cent. To prevent this loss may 
or may not be an extremely simple problem, depending on whether turtles will mate 
and deposit eggs in suitably inclosed feeding-grounds, or if the female alone, in a con- 
dition to lay (these average about 20 per cent of the catch in May and June on one reef 
at present), will carry out her maternal functions in captivity. If these two points are 
negative, then is it feasible to import the eggs from the foreign depositories, consider- 
ing the expense and possible complications as to ownership! And, lastly, would our 
supposed food areas prove sufficient and suitable? The latter point, I think, can be 
favorably answered, as our lagoons have long been known as feeding-places for the 
smaller turtles, and it is fair to suppose that the younger ones could find, in the same 
localities, a diet congenial to them; therefore, if no serious obstacles were found in 
their production, the subsequent existence up to the age of taking care of themselves 
seems assured, and at a trifling cost, after once hatched. 
The statistics in regard to this branch of our fisheries are meager and of little 
value. The few at hand seem to show that the average catch of mature turtles along 
the reef by nets in the past twenty years seems to be but slightly diminished. When 
the fleet is augmented by boats and men, the catch per boat decreases and vice versa, 
but it is very evident, from personal observation covering the same period, that our 
feeding-grounds or inshore resorts for the smaller and more valuable sizes have become 
almost depleted. This results apparently not from excessive fishing, but probably 
from the gradual capture on the outer grounds of females which occasionally depart 
from the instinct of going to remote places for incubation and lay their eggs on home 
shores; for it is hardly possible that the young from the distant hatcheries across the 
Gulf Stream should find their way back until fully matured and able to cope with their 
natural enemies in transit. 
For verification of some mooted points, and for additional information on others, 
I am indebted to Mr. B. Vincent Archer, a lifelong fisher and close observer of the 
green turtle in these waters. 
Cocoanut Grove, Florida. 
