FISHERIES OF THE GULF STATES. 
135 
The shore industries . — Tlie branches of the fishing industry which are prosecuted 
on shore by the citizens of Florida are of considerable importance and consist of the 
wholesale trade in fresh and salt fish, the wholesale oyster trade, the oyster-canning 
industry, the wholesale sponge trade, the wholesale trade in green turtles, and the 
wholesale alligator trade. The extent of these is shown in the following tables. To 
avoid the exhibition of pri vate interests it has been necessary to present the figures 
in a condensed form for the entire state instead of by counties. 
The trade in fresh and salt fish is carried on in Monroe, De Soto, Manatee, Hills- 
boro, Citrus, Levy, Franklin, and Escambia counties. The most extensive fresh-fisli 
business is in Hillsboro and Escambia counties, at Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Pen- 
sacola. The salt-fish trade is most important in Franklin county, at Apalachicola, 
where about two-thirds of the salt fish are handled ; there is also some trade in salt 
fish in Manatee, Hillsboro, Citrus, and Levy counties. 
As shown in Table 23, the number of firms engaged in this business was 29 in 
1889 and 31 in 1890. These had 127 employes the first year and 135 the next, exclu- 
sive of a small number of persons who gave more attention to other branches of the 
fishing industry and have been there included. The capital invested in the business 
amounted to over $235,000, and the annual wages paid to employes was about $35,000. 
The quantities of fresh and salt fish handled in 1890 aggregated 16,123,156 pounds, for 
which the dealers paid $312,237 and received $577,827, the gross profits being $265,590. 
23. — Table showing the wholesale fish trade of the west coast of Florida in 1889 and 1890. 
Designation. 
1889. 
1890. 
29 
31 
135 
127 
$79, 949 
$143, 550 
$34, 440 
13, 023, 986 
$242, 216 
$465, 000 
628, 000 
$16, 607 
$23, 622 
$229, 799 
$89, 139 
$146, 650 
$34, 650 
15, 448, 894 
$294, 772 
$551, 815 
674, 262 
$17, 465 
$26, 012 
$265, 590 
The oyster trade of the west coast of Florida is less extensive than that of any 
other Gulf State, but is nevertheless of considerable importance to the four counties 
(De Soto, Hillsboro, Levy, and Franklin) in which it is prosecuted. In Table 24 the 
most prominent features of the business are shown. Of the total number of firms, 
3 in 1889 and 4 in 1890 were also engaged in other branches of the fishing industry. 
The number of persons actually employed in this trade was 32 in the first year and 42 
in the second, but only those given in the table could be properly credited, as the 
others devoted more time and attention to other fishing business under which they 
have been included. 
The oyster trade consists in the shipment of oysters in the shell and in the opening 
of oysters and the sale of the meats ; the former business consumes more oysters, but 
the latter yields larger returns. In 1890, 83,466 bushels were handled, for which the 
dealers paid $20,370. The oysters sold in the shells and in an opened state yielded 
$47,609, so that the gross profits were $27,239. 
