FISHERIES OF THE GULF STATES. 
95 
furnishing the largest number. Taking the Gulf region as a unit, it is seen that the 
fishermen who are citizens of the United States constitute 76 per cent of the fishing 
population, while the remaining 24 per cent is composed of foreigners. The percent- 
age of colored persons among the native and naturalized fishermen is about 22, Florida 
having the most and Texas the fewest. The actual number of American white and 
colored persons and of aliens employed in the fisheries is shown in Table 4, under 
the lieac} of “Statistics of the fisheries”; under each State this information is also 
given in greater detail. 
The apparatus of capture . — By referring to the tables under the individual States, 
it will be seen that the haul seine is the most extensively used device in taking fish 
proper ; it is so generally employed in all the States — in some of them almost to the 
exclusion of other forms — that it may be called the characteristic means of capture 
in the Gulf region. The gill net is an unimportant form of apparatus except in 
Florida, where it yields larger results than the seine. Such minor devices as the cast 
net and dip net are mostly employed by semi-professional fishermen and take but 
small quantities of fish ; they are most commonly used in Louisiana. 
Both in Florida and Louisiana lines constitute a very prominent means of cap- 
ture; in the former State they take larger quantities of fish proper than any other 
kind of apparatus. 
Such implements as are used in the oyster, sponge, and similar fisheries, in a Edi- 
tion to being the least expensive, are naturally the most productive. In evei'y State 
but Texas they yield much larger returns than any of the other forms of apparatus 
and in Florida give greater results than all other kinds combined. 
The entire absence from the Gulf States of pound nets, trap nets, weirs, and fyke 
nets, which are so prominent in the fisheries of other portions of the United States 
coast, is one of the most noticeable features of the fishing industry of this region. 
Pound nets have been tried at Pensacola, Florida, and elsewhere, but their use has 
never passed beyond the experimental stage, owing to the natural disadvantages 
which have heretofore seemed almost insurmountable. Tbe objections to the use of 
the pound net, trap net, and similar devices may be briefly summarized: 
1. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico abound in large, predaceous fish, which were 
found to enter the pound nets through the door or opening and often made their exit 
through the netting, generally tearing such large holes in the sides of the trap that all 
the other fish escaped. Aside from the liberation of the catch, the actual damage to 
the net was often great. Sharks, tarpon, alligator gars, and jewfislx caused the most 
damage. 
2. The teredo is abundant, and is very destructive to the poles, which constitute 
an important element of expense in building pound nets. 
3. The high temperature of the water in this subtropical region exerts a destr ac- 
tive influence on twine, which becomes rotten much more rapidly than in Northern 
waters. 
The possibility of overcoming all these difficulties may be suggested. It is thought 
that a pound net may be constructed of galvanized iron wire, which will not only 
withstand the attacks of large fish, but will capture them for food, bait, and fertilizer. 
Of course such a net can not be handled in the same way an ordinary pound net 
is drawn, but several other methods of taking the fish from the net are believed to 
