FISHERIES OF THE GULF STATES. 
109 
from which the sponge fishery is prosecuted, and the increase in this important branch 
during the decade has been large. There are other products in the yield of which the 
State takes precedence, as bluefish, mullet, red snappers, Spanish mackerel, and 
turtles, although in the output of oysters it ranks last. 
Condensed statistics . — Tables 10, 11, 12, and 13 give a summary of the economic 
fisheries of the west coast of Florida as they existed in 1889 and 1890. 
From Table 10 it will be seen that in the latter year 2,517 persons engaged in the 
shore or boat fisheries, 1,030 in the vessel fisheries, 55 in the transporting trade, and 
466 in the shore industries connected with the fishing business. The relatively large 
number of vessel fishermen is a prominent feature. 
In Table 11 the nationalities of the persons employed are given in some detail. 
While the native or naturalized citizens of the United States greatly predominate, 
and constitute seven-tenths of the fishing population, there is a large number of fish- 
ermen from the British possessions in the West Indies, principally the Bahamas; these 
are the most numerous foreign element in the fisheries of the State; about four-fifths 
are colored. The other important nationalities represented are Spanish, Portuguese, 
Italian, Norwegian, and Greek. 
Considering the number and value of vessels, boats, apparatus, etc., employed in 
the fisheries of Florida, the following figures are presented in Table 12: The number 
of vessels engaged in 1890 was 166, a much larger fleet than any other State in this 
region possesses; these were valued at $386,318, including their outfits, and the 
apparatus carried was worth $5,460 more. The 2,075 boats employed in the shore 
fisheries had a value of $263,529 with their outfits. The apparatus of capture in the 
shore or boat fisheries was worth $44,180, seines and gill nets being the most expensive 
forms. The shore property and cash capital required for carrying on the fisheries and 
the shore industries dependent thereon amounted to $669,807. The total investment 
was $1,369,294, a sum considerably in excess of that of any other Gulf State. 
The total yield of the commercial fisheries in 1889 was 23,597,240 pounds, worth 
$948,845; in 1890 it was 27,418,562 pounds, valued at $1,064,139, this substantial in- 
crease being chiefly in mullet, oysters, and sponges. The two most important prod- 
ucts of the Florida fisheries in 1890 were sponges, valued at $438,682, and mullet, worth 
$211,161. After these come red snappers, oysters, turtles, pompano, grunts, and 
Spanish mackerel. 
10. — Table of persons employed. 
How engaged. 
1889. 
1890. 
On vessels fishing 
On vessels transporting 
952 
44 
*2,338 
405 
1,030 
55 
*2, 517 
466 
On shore, in factories, etc 
3, 739 
4, 068 
* In addition to these persons, there were 278 ailigator-hunters in 
1889 and 267 in 1890 employed in the coast counties of western Florida. 
