THE FISHERIES AND FISH TRADE OF PORTO RICO. 
35 
catch is mainly made in the waters of the bay, some small fish being- taken with cast 
nets from the Culebrinas River, which is fished from its mouth for 2 miles upstream. 
Fishing- is chiefly in the early morning, with considerable toward the close of the 
day, and very little between morning and late afternoon. 
The boats are flat-bottomed dories, similar to those in general use in New Eng- 
land; they are 12 to 18 feet long, 3 feet beam, with sides of imported pine and frame 
of native wood. They are made at the port and are valued at $25 each. 
Fishing in the bay is largely by 10 haul seines used along the beach. Each is 
from 150 to 300 feet in length by 15 to 20 feet in depth, with mesh 3 and If inches 
in the wings and £ inch in the bunt. They are hauled by 6 or 8 men to a net. There 
are 10 trawl lines used in from 50 to 100 feet of water, having from 100 to 200 
hooks, each attached to short snoods. For deep-water fishing, from 3 to 4 miles off 
shore, 50 bow rigs are used in water from 300 to 500 feet deep. Sixty cast nets, 
having ^ inch square mesh and valued at $4 each, are in use. Forty traps or pots 
are used in the bay, and at times a small number are fished in the river. They are 
made of woven bamboo splints fastened to light frames, each 3 feet in diameter and 
somewhat smaller than those used at other places. They are valued at $4 each, and 
in bay fishing are anchored in 40 feet of water. 
The annals regarding the first landing-place of Columbus in Porto Rico recite 
that it took place in “a small bay abundantly supplied with fish.” Popular tradition 
in the island is that the “small bay” referred to in the ancient documents was that 
of the present city of Aguadilla, or rather a little to the south of Aguadilla, in the 
municipal district of Aguada, and in 1893 a Latin cross, known generally as the 
“Columbus cross,” was erected to mark the spot. 
Mayaguez . — The fresh-fish business of this port is not extensive, but the market 
has a larger supply and better variety of fish than are found at the markets of San 
Juan and Ponce. The catch is made by 25 fishermen, who use 10 to 12 small sloop- 
rigged keel boats, built at the port at a cost of from $50 to $175 each. Most of the 
boats have a well in the center to keep the fish alive. An equal number of dories 
are used, which are of Canadian or United States make, having been purchased of 
vessels arriving with dry fish. 
The fishing-grounds for haul seines and cast nets are along the beach near the 
city landing; in the harbor and open sea, to a distance of 8 to 10 miles, hooks and 
lines and set pots are employed. Wicker pots or traps are anchored in from 18 to 25 
fathoms of water. Six boats, with from 12 to 25 pots each, are used near the landing 
and as far out as 10 miles. 
Fourteen cast nets, worth 5 to 8 pesos each, are fished along the beach for 
sardines and other small fish. 
Three trawls are fished by six men in three boats, in from 8 to 100 fathoms of 
water, some 8 to 10 miles west from the city landing of Mayaguez. From 75 to 200 
hooks are used to each trawl, and these are fastened to snoods 3 feet long and 1 
fathom apart, with 1 hook on each. Trawls are baited with sardines and anchored. 
They are often underrun, and are taken up as soon as a sufficient catch has been made 
or the time has arrived for a return to market. The trawls are worth $3 to $5 each. 
Trolling lines are used to some extent, with single hook baited with sardines. 
The hooks used are Nos. 1 to 9, Twine for trawls is worth 25 cents per pound. 
