Fish and shellfish of the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

              UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

OFFICE OF THE <;:OORDINATOR OF FISHERIES

Ira N. Gabrielson, Deputy Coordi~ator

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE • WASHINGTON • 1944

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. - Price 10 cents

.3 ~ I

CONTENTS

Introducuon _

The fisheries _

The fishing grounds _

The South Atlantic coast. _

The Gulf coast _

Boats, men, and fishing gear _

Marketing the catch _

Biographies of the fish and shellfish of the region _

Mullet _

Spanish mackeret _

Kingfish __ - - -- ---- - - - c-- _

Bluefish _

!ted snapper _

Groupers _

Seatrouts _

!tedfish _

Black drum _

Shrimp ~ _

The oyster ,~ _

The blue crab _

Other fish and shellfish _

Menhaden _

Shad _

Pompano _

Snook _

Grunts _

Sheepshead _

Bluerunner _

Crevalle -~--- _

Flounders _

Sharks _

Spiny lobster _

Hard-shell clarn _

Bayscallop _

Appendix •

The nutritive value of fish and shellfish _

General guides for selecting and preparing fish _

Bibliography _

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VAN OOSTEN LIBRARY

NatiQn~i Hig:nQipil 'lfomy

Great Lakes Science Center

1451 Green Road

Ann Arbor, MI' 48105

Fish and Shellfish

of the

South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts

By Rachel L. Carson, Aquatic Biologist

Office of the Coordinator of Fisheries

EVER SINCE the first settlements were, made in the region, the waters

bordering the southern Atlantic coast and the shores of the Gulf of

Mexico have furnished food. Shrimp, oysters, crabs, and shorefish,

abundant in the warm southern bays and sounds, insured the early

colonists against starvation and later formed an article of trade with

settlements removed from the coast, upriver and in the foothills of the

mountains. Little by little the fisheries of the region developed, and

now the South supplies the United States with practically all of its

shrimp, a third of its crabs, a fourth of its oysters, and a number of

choice fishes that are not taken anywhere else in abundance, like the

red snapper, the Spanish mackerel, and the pompano.

Although mature in years, the fisheries of the South Atlantic and

Gulf coasts have by no means completed their development. With a

coastline more than 2,500 miles long as the crow flies, the region produces

only a little more than half a billion pounds of fishery products-14 per-cent

of the total yield of the fisheries of the United States and Alaska.

With a bewildering variety of life in its waters-more kinds of fish and

shellfish than are found anywhere else in the country-the region has

developed only five major fisheries: the menhaden, shrimp, mullet, crab,

and oyster industries. Of all other species available, none are caught

in quantities exceeding 10,000,000 pounds.

Part of this slow development has resulted from our lack of knowledge,

both of the fishing grounds and of the fish. There has been little scien-tific

exploration of the region, and the fishermen have confined their

operations almost entirely to the waters close inshore. We do not know,

with few exceptions, the areas where fish may congregate offshore, or

whether such areas exist. We know very little of the life histories of

some of the most important species of the region, so that we can only

guess how large a fishery they might support. Some of the species which

we know to be abundant cannot now be fully utilized because of the

limitations of the present methods of handling the catch.

The southern fisheries are a fertile field for exploration which will

reveal whether they may in time yield an even larger and more valuable

seafood harvest.

3

--_._-~-~-- ._-------.-.-.--.-----------f-II

4 CONSERVATION BULbETIN 37 FISH AND SHELLFISH 5

even regular excursions into the northern area, but they reach their full

tide of abundance only along southern shores.

Because it lies a third above and two thirds below Cape Hatteras,

North Carolina has a fish fauna of mixed northern and southern forms.

Some of the fish taken in large quantity in its waters-such as the

croaker, spot, alewives, and gray sea trout--also are found in great

numbers in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Middle Atlantic coast.

These species are not described in the present bulletin because they are

not abundant elsewhere in the South and their description is being

reserved for a future publication on the fishes of the Middle Atlantic

coast and the Chesapeake Bay.

In 1940, a year fairly representative of pre-war conditions, commercial

fishermen of the States from North Carolina to Texas brought in a total

of 573,533,000 pounds. An enormous variety of edible fish and shellfish

were represented in that catch, in all more than 85 different kinds. But

the diversity of the seafood produced by the- southern fisheries is more

apparent than real. Ninety percent of the entire catch consists of five

species of aquatic life, while the remaining 10 percent is made up of

75 species caught in quantities ranging from moderate down to small

or insignificant. The menhaden alone, a silvery member of the herring

family which schools in enormous numbers at the surface, comprises

nearly half the catch of all species for the entire region. Shrimp con-tributes

another quarter. Mullets, crabs, and oysters make up 3 to

6 percent each. (Detailed statistics of the catch are given in table 1.)

As might be expected, the eight southern coastal States differ a great

deal in the productivity of their fisheries. Florida, with its long coast-line,

has a larger catch than any other State in the group, contributing

about one-third of the total yield. North Carolina is a close second,

with 30 percent of the total, and Louisiana is third, with 22 percent.

Mississippi furnishes 7 percent, Texas 4, and Georgia, Alabama, and

South Carolina 1 to 2 percent each. (See table 2 for poundages.)

Not only are Florida's fisheries the most productive, they are also

the most varied, drawing on 67 species-52 fish and 15 shellfish. This

is exclusive of a number of fishes like the tarpon, bonefish, and others

taken only by sport fishermen. North Carolina, with 43 commercial

species, comes next, while Mississippi, drawing on only 17 species, has

the least diversified fisheries (table 2).

THE FISHERIES

Cape H~tt~ras is the Ma~on and Dixon Line of the marine world.

North of It he the waters mhabited by the cold-water fishes of the

~orthern ocean, species like the sea herring, the common mackerel, cod,

sIlv~r hake, a~d pollock. South of the Cape the truly southern fauna

begms. Spanish mackerel and kingfish, mullet, bluefish, spotted sea

trout, red snapper, groupers-these are a few of the many species that

belon~ ~o the warm waters of the South and are caught in important

quantities nowhere else. To be sure, many of them make occasional or

TABLE I.-Fish and shellfieh. landed in the South Atlantic and Gulf states in 191,0

tn quant~ttes exceeding 100,000pounds.1

Species

Value to

fishermen

FISH

~}~\\~':'ohrSriver herring ~ _ ~~':"~'~;;;;;;;~;;;~:m~~:;:;;~;;;;:;m

- ---- --- - ---- -- --------- ----

------ - --- ---- ---- ------------

---------_.--------------- ---------------------------------

---- - ----------------------

~~~i~~:~~~;~;~;~~~;:::~;::~;~~:;::;:::

BHELLF!8H

Pounds

$110.896

178.166

11.883

19.662

199.717

23,857

3,385

89.634

37,945

98,045

83,555

206,067

12,735

12.842

4,381

155,860

41.721

823,202

6.688

1,378,161

23,098

2.586

137.321

19.660

7,056

189.529

25.200

19,415

9,359

577,341

24.519

320.746

85,989

181, 745

512,207

8.801

59.389

63.144

5.052

3.795

5,338

TABLE 2.-Miscellaneous information on the fisheries of the South Atlantic and

Gulf States!

Num-ber

of ~ Total Value of Num- Num- Largest Most

.species "landings catch to berof ber of fishery valuable

State In com- (in pounds) . fishermen fisher- vee- of State fishery of

mercial men sels 2 State

catch

North Carolina ____ 43 170,581,000 $1.864,164 7.113 184 Menhaden Menhaden

South Carolina ____ 21 9.445.900 265,828 1,341 35 Crab Oysters

Georgia __________ 19 12.671.700 380,630 1.178 77 Shrimp Shrimp

Florida ___________ 67 187.492,200 5,004,612 8.902 203 Menhaden Mullet

Alabama _________ 26 11,344,300 561.911 1.134 41 Shrimp Shrimp

MississippL _______ 17 38.002.300 623,110 1.877 248 Menhaden Shrimp

Louisiana __~______ 24 126•626•800 4,951.493 4.858 288 Shrimp I Shrimp

Texas ____________ 22 19,369,200 992,697 1.538 69 Shrimp Shrimp

TotaL _______ -------- 575,533,100 14,644,895 27,941 1.145

9.115.900

2,438.400

780.700

438,000

6,486,200

741,900

238,700

4,421,400

857,900

1,594,800

1,064,900

5,184.000

434,500

371.500

138,300

3.478,000

1,426.600

250,076.800

394,900

37,078,100

404,000

130.100

562,900

420,800

377,500

1,344.400

4,260,000

628,900

204,900

6,523.800

470.000

6.450.900

5.448,500

3.630,500

6,311,900

217.800

539.900

2.104.800

227,100

·108.200

59,800

33.321,100

543.700

150,540,600

463.500

1,240,900

12,742.100

2,367,400

3.391.900

2,449,300

162,200

146.600

528,497 .

83,311

5.893,360

31, 501

112.638

744.152

185,372

195.552

137,674

21,182

2,204

1Based on statistic8 for 1940.

1Source: Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1940. Statistical Digest 4, Fish and Wildlife Service. 2 Exclusive of motor posts, row boats, and other small craft.

6 CONSERVATION BULLETIN s r

The menhaden I.!J-dustry of, the South is centered in North Carolina, 1 n half the total yield of the ar~a.

which pro~uces shghtlh mo.\e 1t1tthe region with the southern fisheries

Louisiana ISthe shellfis capl. ,a fl most highiy developed in that St~te.

for shrimp; crabs, .and OYhstecis a t of a most imposing array of .Im-

Florida, however, IS the ea qual' ers a er S anish mackerel, king-portant

fisheries: those for mUllej' T~~ sh ~~ w~ll ~s the smaller fisheries

ffiosrh,spbilnuyefislohb, sstehra,rkps,omgproanuop,er'h13aneepsrhead, blue runner, jacks, and clams.

THE FISHING GROUNDS

It is 900 miles from Cape Hatte,~~s Gt ltfhetoFltohreidamoKutehys,ofanthde itRiios

1600 miles fron: the Kys f ~'~~~dmil:s of coastline, measured ?irectly

Grande. That IS a tota 0, . 1 rities the numerous Islands,

and without following all the shall ~~:f~ake the South Atlantic and

the sounds and bays andh mars ,es adise Unlike the New England

Gulf coasts the shore fis erman ~ par h on rounds lying far offshore

fishermen, who take mofst ?/ t~elr c~~~homegport, the fishermen of the

and perhaps hundreds 0 mi es .rom.. arrow band of water only

South do the greater par.t of their fishmg i~~~an side and in the thou-saanfedws

mofilessquwariede mbi?lredsermofgprtohteec cte°ciS\aoyns and sounds that are so char-acteristic

of the southern coast.

South Atlantic coast

The eastern boundary o.fNort h Coalrinfarom itshea cohuanindinogf noafrrthoewAitslalanntidcs

that form a barrier prote.cimgdthioccoa~~;called "tfanks," and the coast lie

breakers. Between the I~ an 13, Albemarle Pamlico Core, and Bogu~-

a series of sounds-C~rnt~c~shing wate;s connected with the outside

some 3,000 square mi es 0 . d bass and river herring pass through

by several inlets. Sh~d, s;.npe d s~a trout mullet, croakers, crabs,

these sounds at sp~~m~~ Ime6:~he ocean shore, off the banks, there

and oysters. aboun in ' em.. F mous bluefish grounds lie between

is good fishmg for other S~Cl~S. Ev~r fall the spawning runs of mullet

Cape Henry and Cape Loo ou . h leI' and inner shores of the banks.

pass in enormous schools along t ~ ou in the waters off Cape Lookout,

Sanodmeshoefepthsheeabde,st dmruemnh,adaendn §rpoaUmIs; h::ckerel are abundant in the deep, ,

protected bight west of the Cape. f Imost unbroken beach extends

Southward along the coast en yc ~ ~inyah Bay' then follows a

from Cape Fear to South aro ina :nd barrier isl~nds through the

broken coastline of mar~hes, ~a6s, . nearly to the St. Johns River.

remainder of South Carbohnhan f :~~~~~'Florida sweep in a long curve

Then the broad, sandy .eac. es 0 e Gulf coast

to the Keys and the beginning o~ the. be seen and understood

This much of the South At~ytlC cbast~I~h~~~ies beneath the surface,

by everyone. We know muc ess a ou nts that determine where the

the undersea hills and vapeys ha~d curbers Compared with offshore

fish will congregate and m w a nu: lor~d since the days of John

NCaebwot-EthneglandS-ofuisthhedA, tlanticc?aratnedd,a, sanwde h)l see the Gulf are an unknown 13 a, ,

marine wilderness. h t' t 1 shelf the gently sloping portion of

theWoecedaon kfnloowor tthhaatt texe. tecnodsn~1n'0e~ athe tide lines out to the lOa-fathom

FISH AND SHELLFISH 7

depth, is only about 30 miles wide off Cape Hatteras and averages 75

to 100 miles south of Hatteras to midway down the Florida coast, when

it narrows suddenly to a mere 5 or 6 miles off Palm Beach and Miami.

Since most fish are confined to the shallow waters over the continental

shelf, and seldom venture out over true oceanic depths, the width of the

shelf has a direct bearing on the fisheries.

Offshore from Hatteras and Lookout, occasional beds of coral show

the beginning of a truly southern fauna. Off the coasts of South Carolina

and Georgia numerous fishing banks are scattered over the continental

shelf between the la-fathom and lOa-fathom line. These are like sub-marine

hills rising, above a deeper-lying plain, their tops covered with

sand, coral rock, waving sea fans, and shells. Sea bass, jacks, flounders,

snappers, grunts, and sharks are some of the species fishermen take on

the southern offshore banks.

Gulf coast

Off the southern tip of Florida a long chain of islands-the Florida

Keys-stretches out south and west into the Gulf like giant stepping

stones. Their southern border swept by the Gulf Stream, the Keys arc

almost inconceivably rich in marine life of all kinds, both fishes and

the smaller invertebrate life they feed on. Some fish are more abundant

on the southern side of the reef in the warmer Gulf Stream water, others

on the north side. Not infrequently a "norther" drives kingfish and

other species through the narrow channels between the reefs, making

good fishing while the schools are concentrated in a restricted area.

Above the Keys, the west coast of Florida is broken into a maze of

waterways about the "Ten Thousand Islands," then swings north 'in

a long arc, interrupted here and there by deeply indenting bays. The

continental shelf is very wide off this coast-e-as much as 130 miles-and

is crossed and furrowed by ledges and gullies 'where fish abound. Its

outer margin is rocky and dotted with patches of coral.

Westward, bays, sounds, marshes, and chains of islands mark the

coast to the great delta of the Mississippi, built so far into the Gulf that

off its tip the continental shelfis only about 10 miles wide. Beyond the

Mississippi are more coastal marshes for mile after mile, bordered on

the seaward side by barrier beaches, marked by vast nearly enclosed

lagoons and bayous. These inside waters grow fine oysters, and they

swarm with young shrimp. Redfish, trout, black drum and other fishes

come in from the open Sea as young fish and grow and mature in them.

Of the open Gulf we know very little, for it is a region that has, been

strangely neglected by oceanographers, and with the single exception

of the combined fishery for red snappers and groupers, the Gulf fisheries

have been confined to a narrow band of coastal waters. The area of

the Gulf is about 700,000 square miles. Except at the mouth of the

Mississippi and again at Vera Cruz, the continental shelf which rims

its basin is wide-lOa to 130 miles. The deepest part of the Gulf's floor

-Sigsbee Deep off the coast of Yucatan-lics more than two miles

below the surface, and much of the remaining area is from one to two

miles deep. The Gulf has no offshore islands except the Keys of Florida

and Yucatan, and the island of Cuba. Its tides have a range of only two

to four feet; its currents sweep in a vast rotational movement about its

shores, clockwise, leaving its boundaries by way of the Strait of Florida

and pouring north through the Atlantic Ocean as the river of warm

blue water known as the Gulf Stream.

8 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

BOATS, MEN, AND FISHING GEAR

Before the war, which made it necessary to use many fishing boats

for other purposes, the fishing fleet of' the South Atlantic and Gulf

coasts was the largest in the United States and Alaska. While the

number of large vessels was slightly below the number of similar craft

used on the Pacific coast of the United States-1,145 compared with

1,563-the total number of vessels, motor boats, and miscellaneous small

craft fishing out of southern Atlantic and Gulf ports was 16,194. The

three Pacific Coast States had the next largest fleet, with 9,105 craft,

end Alaska the third largest fleet of 5,138.

The largest vessels operating in the southern area are the menhaden

purse seiners, which cruise about in the larger bays or in the open ocean

with a lookout posted in the crow's nest watching for schooling men-haden.

They take with them several small boats from which fishermen

carry out the actual operation of setting the seine around the fish. The

large menhaden seiners probably have the greatest annual production,

per boat, of any vessels operating in the United States fisheries, running

from 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 pounds.

Another large and important section of the southern fishing fleet is

made up of the shrimp trawlers, which bring in most of the catch of

this valuable crustacean. The trawlers drag cone-shaped nets along

the bottom of the sounds or ocean where the shrimp congregate in great-est

numbers.

Another good sized fishing vessel seen in the South is the schooner

type.z modeled after the famous Gloucester schooners, which operates

chiefly out of Pensacola and visits the red snapper banks off the coast

of Yucatan.

A variety of smaller boats is used in operating the gill nets, haul

seines, and dredges which are important in many southern fisheries.

Pound nets, common in North Carolina, but not farther south, are

tended usually by small motor boats. Fyke nets, dip nets, and cast

nets may be operated from the shore.

In 1940, approximately 28,000 persons were directly engaged in fishing

in the States from North Carolina to Texas, Florida reported the largest

number of fishermen-8,902. North Carolina and Louisiana followed,

with 7,113' and 4,858, respectively. Each of the other States had be-tween

one and two thousand fishermen.

MARKETING THE CATCH

Although the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts furnish more than half

a billion pounds of fish and shellfish annually, nearly half of this amount

consists of menhaden, practically all of which is now processed into

meal and oil and so does not enter the ordinary marketing channels.

Some 250,000,000 to 300,000,000 pounds remain for distribution as

fresh, frozen, canned, salted, or smoked products.

Most of the fish landed at southern ports enters the fresh-fish markets.

Despite the recent introduction here and there of the modern processing

methods of preparing fillets, steaks, and tenderloins, the most prevalent

custom is to ship the fish in the round, that is, without preliminary

dressing. This fact makes it difficult for the southern States to compete

with New England as a fresh-fish center, for in that area much of the

catch is routinely processed in modern plants which turn out a con-veniently

handled product" neatly packaged. and quick frozen. At

present the necessary shore facilities-filleting plants, freezing and

FISH AND SHELLFISH 9

storage establishments and th lik

South. Likewise the ;killed labeor I e-are extremely limited in the

a ImTohs t "u nobtam' ab,le under war conndeiItciIeOssnasry to opera t e such plants I.S

e present methods of handlin h " .

factory as applied to some of th g \ ~ catch are partICularly unsatis-such

as the mullet and Sp . Ie mosklmportant fi,sheries of the region

cat ches of these species areanmisadIe miac erIel fish'errcs. Extremely heavy '

it 1las 0ft en proved I.mpossible foer mthaes friorht fpieriod ,so tl'1at in practio.«

the fish that are caught Th bl es sh markets to handle all

avai'Ia.ble to dress the fi.sh b e fpilrloeti em could bied s~ ve 1if means were

freeze I~,an.d hold it for distribution i ng or other suitable means, quick

Canmng m the South isIimit dIn aCtcor~ance with market demands

It has beeen the practice to can th a mos entirely t 0 s,Iirr.rnp and oysters. .

market form has undoubted I b greater part of. ~he shrimp, and this

":Ide area in whic~ shrimp is Ydist~~~ut~S~ familiar . throughout the

ti end toward freezmg mol' hri , ut there IS now a strong

the oy~ter, canni,ng in the Unfte~fft :nd. c~nnin~ less, Practically all

and ,BIlOXI,Miss. cans more 0 t a es IS one in the southern States

Geographically; the product:~;r~h than any other c~ty in the world:

th~ ~anned pack) are distribut d h·e flso~thern fishenes (exclusive of

Mls~lssippi River on the west an~ tl~eIO~ m. the area bounded by the

species, however, have a much wide di t 15b~~ver on the north. Certain

red snapper are shipped to more di~t 1\n.: IOnh· Probably shrimp and

seafoods. an CI ies t an any other southern

From the South Atlantic coast and 11 f F .

ments go north' along the Atl ti at 0 lorida the heaviest ship-mar

ket Ioorr tthhiis area, which shiapns IC. cfoas . Nhew York IiS an I,mportant

gan, and I1linois, and as far we:tS ar ~ort as Massachusetts, Michi-qul.

f c?ast many shi ments as exas and Ka~sas, From the

SISSIPpI Valley. Shigments !~e ~~rth bY

dtruck and ~relght up the Mis-the

New England States the R s~ mMe to the MIddle Atlantic area,

coast. ,oc y ountain area, and the Pacific

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE FISH AND S'HELLFISHOF THE REGION

Mullet (Mugil cepha/us and M. curema)

The mullet is the most important f d fi

the most valuable fishery in the StatOO f ~ o~ the South. It supports

and IS caught in larger quantit th es 0 onda and. South Carolina

of menhaden in Florida, Alaba~a ~~da%. ot~e: fi~h WIth the exceptio~

from North Carolina to Texas th t ~SSlrIPPl. I~ the whole area

by menhaden, which is used. rimaril ca c 0 mullet IS exceeded only

meal, rather than as food a~d b Ii.for the manufacture of oil and

product. ,y s nmp, the South's major seafood

Being an abundant and mod tl '

staple foods of the lower' es y priced fish, mullet is one of the

Despite its low price, it is on~n~~~~e t~~~ps f indsouthern coastal cities.

firm-textured flesh which c tai I er 00 fishes. It has a tender

nutlike flavor. ontams a c ear yellow OIl with a mild and

. Mullets are found throughout th ' '1

different species most of I . I e WOId and there are about 100

U. mited States spe' cies the strwi leICd1 ar.e tro.pi ca.I Th e most abundant

iteelf has a wide dist~ibution POor jumping mul!et (Mugil cephalus)

from Cape Cod to Brazil '0 n ?ur 'Ielastcoast It occurs all the way

. ccasiona y a few stray mull et appear

10

. G ilf of Maine but such an occurrence is r~re

north of the Cape, m the h' rth o'f the Carolinas. On the Pacific

and there are no re~ular fis enesrnofound from Monterey to Chile all;d

coast of the Americas .~ull;\ add Japan In the eastern Atlantic

westwood to the Hawanan s an s an an coast and in the Mediter-they

are common on the southe~n Er~pe the writings of the ancient

rRaonmeaann.s, aTnhde~in aEregypotftetn~eymhnatvIOen~ee~ncultivated for centuries in the

overflow deltas of the NIle. . t ken commercially in only a few

The white mullet, M. curema, IS a from Cape Cod to Brazil. It

localities, although it occW ~ll ~d ~ha: other Florida Keys, w~ere .it

imsakaebsunduapnt theabgoruetateKr eypeasrt 0f ~lie mullet catch. It is so similar m

CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

12,691

• from its habil af leaping as inuc~ as Ihree feel

Figure I.-The jumping mullel ?elS .'IS nam~ fi hermen 10 spol schools of Ih,s fish.

oul of Ihe waler, making .1 easy or IS

appearance aJ;ld habits to the striped mullet that fishermen do not

often distingUls~ bet,;.'een~hem. llets are closest to the silversides, al-

In their relationships, t ~ mu hi mering little minnows, and to the

though much larger ~han t ese ~ imrather stout bodied fish with large

barracudas. The striped mullet ISda. weight Probably the record

scales and averages 2 .or. 3 poun :r~nis the f~ct that it has two well

size is 10 pounds. A dIS~I~~tI~et~ more forwardly placed one is helhd

separated dOl~salfins, an . a it four sines. The color of the fis

stiffly erect, like a small Salk b6' 1k and wlth dusky stripings alon~ the

issidaess.ilvYeroyunggreym, udl aelrtkearreona tbeeau~i~u'I silver color , like a freshly m, mted

dime. d often run up into brackish river

Mullet live in coastal wa~rs a;n Dr Samuel Hildebrand, ichthy-mouths

to feed .. In Soutl~ldl~:rsceivice' has found them as much, as

ologist of the ~Ish and W;h Imouths of'rivers, sometimes above ~Igh

ownaeterhfaulnlsd.red Tmheiylesaraebosveledome'1f ever found in fresh water in the Umted

States. . im ortant mullet fisheries, these

In North Carolina, where the.re ~: ba Ps and sounds, feeding on the

fish usually spend the sum~er tl~e tfall a~parentlY at a time whe.n ~he

vegetat.ion of the bottom. n . 'mass exodus from these inside

. spawn is maturing, t~e ~~l~h~ef~let: and moving southward along the

waters, passmg out throug At this time of year enormous catches

coast an? presumablY

-sometImes as muc h oasut6~0,o~g'pounds in a single haul of the net-are

maBdeecabuysethme umlleutlletarefisshceh0rm0 fmn.g fish and especially because they have

FISH AND SHELLFISH J1

3. remarkable habit of jumping as much as three feet out of the water,

fishermen can easily sight an approaching school and set their nets

about it. On the North Carolina coast they usually wait on the beach,

boats and net in readiness, until the lookout on top of a nearby dune

gives the signal that the fish are coming. With one end of the net

held on shore, the seine is then carried out in a large semicircle around

the fish and the free end brought in to the beach. The men then jump

out of the boats and wade out into the surf to hold down the lead line

in the lower margin of the net with their feet, otherwise the mullet will

escape under the net. At best a number of them will leap Over the

cork line, sometimes making the mistake of jumping into the boats.

Often two nets are. set, one outside the other, so that the fish that escape

the inner net may be caught in the outer. The net is drawn in as rapidly

as possible and finally the central part, which now forms a sort of

bag containing the fish, is hauled up on the beach, all the mullet flapping

against the wet .eand in their efforts to escape.

In Florida mullet are caught chiefly at night. Although unable then

to see the fish unless the night is bright, fishermen can hear a school

splashing and so tell when to set the net. Gill nets, in which the fish

ubseecdomien eFnltoarnidgale.d as they attempt to pass through the meshes, are often

Almost three-fourths of the entire U. S. mullet catch of 35 to 40

million pounds is taken in Florida, chiefly on the west coast. Although

far below Florida in production, Alabama ranks second in the mullet

fishery, followed by North Carolina. Mullet are present in abundance

throughout the Gulf of Mexico, but they have been almost entirely

neglected in Louisiana and Texas. When these fisheries are developed,

production of this excellent fish can be greatly increased and it can

be supplied in larger quantity to northern cities.

The season of greatest abundance is from April through November.

heaviest runs about Beaufort, N. C., occur usually in September, while

the peak of activity in the Florida fishery comes in November. In that

State the fishery in most counties is closed between December 1 and

January 10, to protect the fish during the spawning period.

The mullet lends itself especially well to cultivation, and has been

raised in ponds for many centuries in various parts of the world. The

ancient Romans practiced mullet culture, and so did the native chief-tains

of the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, who had large numbers.

of fish ponds built throughout the islands. The mullet and milkfish

are still the principal species raised in these ponds.

Some recent experiments at the Beaufort, N. C., laboratory of the Fish

and Wildlife Service indicate that mullet culture in shallow, enclosed

areas along the South Atlantic coast may be a future fish-cultural de-velopment

of some importance. Dr. Herbert Prytherch, in charge of the

laboratory, says that mullet which he placed in such an enclosure as

two- or three-inch fish grew to an exceptional size in two years' time.

The mullet do not require feeding, provided the growth of vegetation

is stimulated by fertilization.

At present mullet usually reach the market in the round, i.e. without

being dressed, and these fish may be either fresh or froze~. Some

mullet is now being filleted and popular demand will probably lead to

more of them being prepared in this convenient form after the war

when labor and plant facilities permit. Part of the catch is salted this

product being chiefly for export. The roe also is eaten. '

Quite a range of sizes is available for the purchaser-anything from

half-pound fish, which are best suited for broiling, to large five-pounders,

CONSHHVATION BULLETIN 37 12

d Th Fish and Wildlife Service will furnish, on

which should be bake t .. e . en laboratory-tested recipes for the

request a leaflet con ammg sev

prepar~tion of mullet.!

Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus maculafus)

S anish mackerel is predominantly a fi~h .of war!ll southern

. Tthe b Pt despite this fact its distribution is astomshmgly WIlde. It may

wa ers u M' nd as far south as Brazil. t occurs o?

~~ef~~~~i~~~f\~~r~l:~tic ~~:~ters that waGshltheAfriIcalncdosas;:t~~~

.fi f S DIego to the a apagos s an .

liv~s in the PaCI c ~°few atbousand pounds are taken on the Pacific

Umt:d h~~:~~r o~l~d although commercial catches are reported of th1

coas , t 11t'he way from New Jersey to Texas, the real cen er 0 east coas a . .. .' .

abundance of this species ISm Flonda.

h eans in search of its prey, the

Fi ure 2.-The Spanish mackerel roves the war~ soul ern oc

g smaller schooling fishes.

Only a little more than a hun dred years ag;o, the Spanititsh ma"cAkefrienle

bi t f f the shortest biographIes ever wn en.

was the su jec 0 one 0 . J 1" t the ichthyologist Mitchell in

and beautiful fish; comeks,~n ublY'hwd~o e1815 Even in the late 1800's

hi "F' h f N w Yor pu IS em. h

I~ IS,e~ deal ecould b~ added to this one-sentence description. T e

no a. grea known onl as an excellent food fish and a gamy

Spanish mackerel wa,sd' th MIddle Atlantic area during the summer

fighter which appeal e me. t . nd Where

month~, retiring in th~ fall.to some u~known ;m e[~~gmg~~otfU'Florida's

the fish goes in the winter IS no longer a lrs eryb d March when

6000 000 pound catch is made between ovem er an t s It 'is now

~~~~fe~~i~~a~~h~~~e{Si: ~~~~~~.~~~I~n~~~~i~~:~:~~e;ia~~;:J~~~~~~~~~

into the North Carolina ar~a during April and f f 11and chilling waters,

Bay by Mayor June. WIth the first SIgns 0 a

however, it returns to the more cOdfr~a~~e ~h~~~'lurk in coral patches

Unlike the groupe~s, snapper~, ~n rthe Spanish inaekerellive almost

or roam over deep-lymg ocean .0 oms, ove in schools and are easily

entirely at the surface. Travelmg, theY

hJ? food clea~ the water in

seen at tlre sur face as they pursu.e t erGr 00d (o1r887) "the surface of i?!~~~4~~{f:~~i~~{:~]r~~~:~~~~~~~~~~I:~!~i the fragments of their feasts."

. d net and their preparation for the table. Mimeographed, 4 pp.

1 Fishery ~ea~et S48.~tnPDCp~~ment of the Interior, Chicago 54, Ill.

Fish and Wildlife ervrce, e

FISH AND SHELLFISH 13

Schools of menhaden are the principal source of food for the predatory

Spanish mackerel, which also feed on any other schooling species, such

as mullet, swversides, and the common Boston mackerel where the ranges

of the two species overlap.

This is considered an even more beautiful fish than the famed dolphin.

It is a deep blue with iridescent tones of gold and purple on the back and

sides and silvery below, while along the flanks are three irregular rows

of gold spots, "like new gold dollars," as an early writer put it.

When they are youngsters, only an ichthyologist could distinguish the

Spanish mackerel from its close relatives the kingfishes or ceros (Scom-beromorus

cavaUa and S. regalis) but the adults develop characteristics

which make it fairly easy to tell them apart. The Spanish mackerel is

a smaller fish than either of the others, averaging only about 2 pounds,

and attaining a maximum weight of 20 to 25 pounds. S. regalis, which

is abundant in this country only about the Florida Keys, averages 5

pounds and may reach 35; S. cavaZZa averages 7 and reaches a maximum

of 50 to 75. Apart from size differences, if a fish of this group has yellow

spots on its flanks and a gradually curving lateral line, it is a Spanish

mackerel; if it has spots and one or two continuous black lines along its

sides it is S. regalis; if it has no (or at most a scattered few) spots and a

lateral line that drops abruptly opposite the second dorsal fin, it is

S. caualla,

The Spanish mackerel spawns while on its summer migration, at least

from the vicinity of the Carolinas to Long Island, but we do not know

whether spawning may also take place north and south of these limits.

Hildebrand and Cable (1940) found larvae only a few days old in the

open ocean off Beaufort, N. C., from late June until early September, but

none in the inshore waters. The lower Chesapeake Bay, however, is a

spawning ground for Spanish mackerel, although the fish are not as

numerous in the Bay as they formerly were.

In Florida, where almost the entire commercial catch is made, fisher-men

take the Spanish mackerel in gill nets and purse seines. Most of the

gill netting is done at night, because the fish are unable to see the net in

the darkness and are more likely to gill themselves. The boats carry

powerful searchlights to aid the crews in locating the fish. When the

mackerel are sighted, the fishermen set their nets around the school as

quickly as possible, marking its position by lanterns mounted on cork

floats. The next step is to frighten the fish as much as possible, causing

them to plunge against the net and become entangled by their gill covers

in its meshes. This is done by splashing in the water with oars, or by

rowing directly into the space enclosed by the nets. Although there is

nothing to prevent the fish from swimming deep and escaping under the

net, their habits are such that they ordinarily remain at the surface,

either gilling themselves or escaping over the cork line.

As long as Spanish mackerel have been caught, they have been con- .

sidered one of the choicest species of the east coast, ranking close to the

pompano in popular esteem. They are usually marketed whole, and are

best broiled or baked. Shipments are made throughout eastern United

States with New York one of the most important markets.

Kingflsh (Scomberomorus cavalla)

The kingfish, giant relative of the prized Spanish mackerel, takes top

rank among the game fishes of America and is only a little less valued

than its relative as a food fish. It occurs in great numbers at certain

14 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

seasons off the coast of Florida and rarely is seen as far north as Cape

Cod. Southward, the limit of its range is Brazil.

The only important production center for the kingfish in the United

States is Florida, where three to three and a half million pounds are

taken. A very small catch is made in Texas. In Florida the related

species, S. regalis, taken chiefly about the Keys, is also called the kingfish

and fishermen seldom distinguish between them.

The season for kingfish in Florida is about the same as that for the

Spanish mackerel, or from November to March. It is taken along both

the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, chiefly by trolling, and is found in large

schools, ranging the waters of the open sea in search of menhaden and

other small fish. It is noted for its remarkable leaps, often clearing the

AS6S6

Figure 3.-The kingflsh is a favorite of Southern sport fishermen and also a choice food fish.

water by 10 feet or more. Fishermen seeking Spanish mackerel often

take the kingfish incidentally, because of the similar habits of the two

species, but it is so strong and has such sharp teeth that it does consid-erable

damage to the gear.

Kingfish taken by trolling usually run from 15 to 30 pounds in weight,

but the maximum size for the species is about 75 pounds. Its size,

strength, speed, and great fighting powers make it one of the most

important game fishes on the coasts of Florida and North Carolina.

Like the Spanish mackerel, it is a fish of fine flavor, with few bones.

The larger fish are sold in steaks, the smaller ones whole. Most of the

catch is marketed along the eastern seaboard, Richmond and New York

being especially important markets for this species.

Bluefish (Pomafomus salfafrix)

. The bluefish is another warm-water species which migrates up and

down the Atlantic coast from Florida to Massachusetts following the

schools of menhaden and other small fish and avoiding chilly climates.

In midwinter bluefish are to be found in southern Florida, where the'

bulk of the commercial catch is made. Like migrant birds, they turn

north with the spring, and by March and April large schools are passing

the coasts of the Carolinas. They reach Long Island in late April or

early May, Massachusetts by late May. In some years; probably when

they are especially abundant, they pass Cape Cod and appear during

the summer months in Massachusetts Bay and as far north as Maine,

but these waters 'are beyond the range of their normal summer

wanderings.

The total United States catch of bluefish was only 2,629,000 pounds in

1940, the most recent year for which we have a complete record. This

was the low point of a' catch that has been steadily dropping since 1936,

when nearly 10,000,000 pounds were taken. The entire history of the

fishery for bluefish is one of rapid changes in abundance. Probably the

FISH AND SHELLFISH 15

~ar~est catches-s?me 20,00~,OOOpounds-s-wero made about 1900 b t

urmg several p~nods the yield has fallen as low as the present i ~

W.e know t?O little about the ~atural history of the bluefish to be ~:~~

to give a satisfactory .explanatIOn of these changes in its abundance

In le~n bluefish years It IS the custom for sport fishermen to sa that

scarCIty: of menhaden, probably the favorite food of the blueKsh .

responsible. ThIS supposition has never been proved and the record' dS

not show that the changes in abundance of the two species coincide.

A m?re probable explanation is that the bluefish, like many other marin~

spec,Ies, IS subject to extreme hazards during the first days and weeks

of life from unfavorable winds, currents, and water temperatures as

well as from the attacks of natural enemies. In the case of the Atla~tic

Figure 4 -The bl fi h' 1Z,680 . ue 5 , a st.'ong, SWIft ~sh of the open sea, may run up to three feet in

length and IS a deep blulsh green above with silver below.

mackerel i.t has been proved that if, during the brief spawning period

the water IS unseasonably cold or the set of winds and currents is such

~ to ca:rrYbthe young fish out of their normal nursery areas, practically

e en~Ire rood .may perish. If this happens two or three years in

succes~lOn, there IS an acute shortage of mackerel. Perhaps something

ver.y IIk~ this happens in the life of the bluefish. but we shall have to

walt until we know more of its life history befa're we can explain the

ups and downs of abundance.

The bluefish, which commonly attains a weight of 10 pounds (the

re~ord speCIme~, taken at ~antuck.et Island, weighed 27 pounds), has

quite a reputatlO? for the SIze of ItS appetite and the ferocity of its

attacks. on schooling menhaden, mackerel, herring, or other small fishes

Accor.dmg to old and often quoted accounts, these attacks go far beyond

that ISne~essary t? satisfy th~ appetites of these bold sea hunters, which

eave a trail of mutilated fish in their wake. Writers of past generations

used to speculate about th~ number of fish destroyed by bluefish each

1ear,seldom agreemg m their estimates but always arriving atastronom-

Ical figures.

k Of al~ the fish tribe, the closest relative of the bluefish that is widely

nown. IS the pon:pa~o, gene!ally voted the choicest food fish of the

Atlantic ~oast. Like ItS relative, the bluefish is excellent eating. Since

market SIZ~Srun fro.m one to seven pounds, it is sold whole and may be

baked, br?Iled, or fried, accord!ng to size and the preference of the cook.

In Florida, where the only Important commercial catches are macle

bluefish ar~ taken usually between mid-December and mid-February'

The same gill nets that ta~e. the Spanish mackerel also capture the blue~

fish.• although small quantities are taken also by trolling. New York is

an Important market for these southern bluefish, which are available at

a season when the fish are absent from northern waters.

16 CONSERVATIONBULLETIN 37

Red Snapper (Lutianus blackford;;)

The red snapper is perhaps the most widely known of all. t~e fishes of

the Gulf of Mexico. Although the a~mual catch-s-f to 7 million pounds

-is not large compared with the major fisheries of. ~he ?ountry, the red,

snapper is known and hi~;l:ly regar~ed In ma~1Ycities m the north, t~

which considerable quantities are shipped. It IS usually the most col~r

ful item in a seafood market's display case ?r wi~dow-a large, bn.l-liantly

colored fish running up to 30 pounds in weight and 2:Y~ fe.et 11l

length. Although often sold whole, one of the larger snappers IS likely

to be beyond the modern family's capacity and so the present mark~t

forms include steaks and fillets quick frozen and fresh. Red snapper IS

available throughout the year,' and the house~ife may use any method

of preparation she likes, for it is good broiled, baked, steamed, or

boiled. The meat is juicy, white, and of fin.e flavor.. Most people

consider a baked red snapper one of the choicest delicacies the sea

provides.

1%,945

Figure 5.-The Gulf coast's red snapper is known all over the United States as a choice

food fish.

Most red snappers are caught in the Gulf, wit~ the most extensive

known fishing grounds-the Campeche J3ank-ly:ng. off th~ coast of

Yucatan and some 400 miles from Pensacola, the pnnc~pal United St~tes

port for this fish. Small boats out of Galveston, ~obIle, Panama CIty,

and Tampa also fish on the Campeche Bank, takmg both snappe!s and

groupers which commonly occur on the same grounds. There IS also

good fishing for these species around the edges of smaller banks, known

as "lumps," off the United States coast of the Gulf:

At least five species of snappers are taken by..U?Ited Stat~s fishermen,

although the red snapper, Lutianus blackiordii, I.Scaught m much the

largest quantity. About Key West, the yello~taIl, Ocyurus chrysurus,

is the most important of all the snappers and IS regarded as on~ of the

choicest of the local food fishes. It averages about a po~nd a~d IS com-monly

taken on the outer reefs. The gray snapper, .L ..gnseus, IS an .even

more abundant fish about Key West but because It .IS also .exceedI?gly

wary not as many are caught. This snapper has an .mt~r~stmg habit of

traveling in schools that may number thousands of mdlvlduals.. If not

disturbed, such a school may hover in one place for hours, easily seen

through the clear water. The gray snapper IS a good food fish and

FISH AND SHELLFISH 17

market sizes are from one-half to five pounds. In commercial import-ance,

the muttonfish (L. analis) probably ranks next to the yellowtail in

the Key West area. It averages about 3 pounds and is an excellent food

fish. The schoolmaster, L. apodus, is also rather common in southern

Florida but its commercial value is less than that of the other species.

Besides the species named many other members of the snapper family

inhabit the waters of the West Indies, and these are among the most

beautiful food fishes of the tropics. In his "American Fishes," G. Brown

Goode, who first recognized and named the red snapper, says they are

"the tanagers and grosbeaks of the coral reefs."

It is an interesting fact that the red snapper was not named until

1878, although it had been a favorite in southern markets long before

that, and had even been introduced in the markets of New York, Wash-ington,

and throughout the Mississippi Valley. In 1878 Dr. Goode, then

Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, studied a number of

specimens obtained from Florida and decided the fish was a species new

to science. He named it Lutjanus blackfordii: Lutjanus (later spelled

Lutianus) from an Asiatic name for a kindred species; blackjordii in

honor of Eugene G. Blackford, then Commissioner of Fisheries of New

York and an enthusiastic ichthyologist.

Strangely enough, very little is known about the life history of the

red snapper, in spite of the high esteem in which it is held. According

to fishermen, snappers move into comparatively shallow water in the

summer and in the fall move offshore again. At all seasons they seem to

shift from one spot to another according to food supplies. They are

believed to spawn in deep water, during the late summer and fall.

Although the young of related species commonly appear along our

southern shores and may be caught in beach seines, young red snappers

are seldom if ever taken in such localities.

Offshore, the red snappers live in deep holes and rocky gullies where

small fish, crabs, shrimps and other marine creatures which are their

prey are abundant. Usually found on the same grounds with them are

the groupers, which ordinarily outnumber the snappers about two or

three to one. They prefer warm water and if the temperature falls

below 50° they are likely to move off in search of a more congenial

climate. Their only enemies are sharks and a few of the larger carniv-orous

fishes; such as the enormous jewfish.

The center of the red snapper fishery is now Pensacola. From that

port, a round trip to the Campeche Bank takes about 23 days: 4 days

each for the trip out and returning, 15 days fishing. Many of the red

snapper boats are small craft but owing to the skill and experience of

their skippers and crews they are able to weather the heavy blows and

rough seas of the Gulf.

Snappers are taken in water several hundred feet deep, and most of the

catch is made with hook and line. According to Jarvis (1935) a crew of

9 men can haul in from 7,000 to 10,000 pounds a day, depending on the

depth of the water, the tide, and the wind. The large schooners which

fish on the Campeche Bank take most of their catch between October

and April, while the smaller boats fishing along the United States coast,

being more dependent on good weather, operate largely during thc

spring and summer.

Groupers (Genera Epinephelus and MyderopercaJ

The groupers belong to one of the largest and most widely distributed

families of fishes in the world-the -,sea basses or Serranidae. The sea

CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37 18

ff ther fish so directly because all i~s

bass tribe is so lll;lmerous, a de?tsf0 nd in so many locations, that it IS

members are carmvorous, a~ 1St ou f marine fishes. The larger

id d the dominan group 0 usually consi ere. . s food wherever they occur. .

members of the family ar~ pnz~ a I family many rather diverse

As might be oxpected in sue a arge rouper~ jewfishes, and others

fishes are included mIt .. The seabbassesbgut 120 ~pecies in North and

belong to the group, which num ers a 0

Central America. bers f the sea bass family range all the way

Common names of mem ers 0 . to such elegant designations as the

from gag, scamp, and tally-wag . thought to be a corruption of

rincess rockfish. The name gr?uJ?er IS .

fhe Portuguese "garoupa" for a similar species,

• sta Ie food fishes of the south. The five or six

Figure 6.-The red grouper ,sonde of thte ~it large shipments to other areas.

million pound catch oes no per

fIrs and so the most im-

Probably the most abundant 0 the gro~pe helus morio found from

portant commercially, is.the re~ grouP:~~:~~:~ggling northward as far

Virginia to RIO de J aneiro, an SOfe 1 I th of 2 or 3 feet and may

as Woods Hole, Mass. It grXfs f ~;:fmportance commercial.ly are

weigh from 20 to 40 pounds. so 0 s from Florida to Brasil and

the Nassau grouper, E. stri~~US, ~~ilioCarolina and three members of

occasionally taken as far nor h as llo~fish grouper, M. venenosa, the

the genus Mycteroperca.-t e y: ~ M microlepis. All of these are

black grouper, M. bonact, and trh bgif c~ast but most also occur along

found in greatest.abundancedobot; red and black groupers are reported

the South AtlantIc coast an h fi h that have traveled north in

from Woods Hole. Whether t es~ areid:nts of New England is some-the

Gulf Stream or are perma~en res

thing that has not ~een deter~ll~~ten on the same grounds with the red

The red grou. per IShctomwimthonthYe same kim·d of gear On some groundIs snapper, and IS caug WI by two or three to one, althougl

the groupers outnumber the snapperIds h I

lit . fish and se om sc 00. . they are rather so 1 ary f th art of camouflage. When resting.

Most groupers are m;sterls ~e th~'e is a background of mingled lights

among corals or s~awee s, ~~e is usually banded. This bandmg, as a

and shadows, their color p~h:r~sh rises from the bottom and begins. to

rule, fades out as soon as Then it usually is a very pale and ghostlIke

swim through open .watert·l· hard to discern. Apparently the changes

color which makes ItS ou mes

FISH AND SHELLFISH 19

are not related to motion or inactivity alone; groupers have been seen to

flash their color bands on and off at the approach of another fish of

different species.

For these interesting observations on camouflage as well as on many

curious habits of groupers and other fishes of the coral reefs we arc

chiefly indebted to the late Dr. William Longley. During many hours

spent in a diving helmet, he studied fishes in their natural surroundings

and his accounts (Longley and Hildebrand, 1941) of what he saw made

the sport of fish watching seem at least as interesting as bird watching,

and nearly as practicable. Some groupers, on first acquaintance, would

take food from his hand, while others were more shy, Red groupers, he

found, would sometimes allow him to touch them even though he offered

them no food. He describes one of the bolder fish-a Nassau grouper-as

follows:

One that I fed frequently usually appeared promptly upon my approach from

under the coral heads and got under foot and picked at my pockets, in which I

carried crawfish tails for it. It could scarcely be driven far enough away to photo-graph,

and might easily have been captured with bare hands if it had not been

so strong, hard, and slippery.

One of the grouper family, the spotted [ewfish, Promicrops itaiara, is

one of the largest of all fishes, the record specimen weighing 693 pounds.

Small jewfish taken in shallow water weigh up to 10 pounds but the

average weight of those caught commercially about Key West is about

125 pounds. The jewfish is caught on strong tackle resembling that

used for sharks and is often brought in alive to the dock, where it is

hitched to a stake in shallow water to await disposal in the markets.

When the fish are dressed they are usually cut into steaks, and the local

demand is so heavy that only limited quantities are available for other

markets. The spotted [ewfish is confined to tropical waters but is found

on both Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Most of the groupers when fully grown weigh as much as 40 or 50

pounds, although market forms usually range from 5 to 15 pounds.

They are sold whole, or as steaks or fillets. They are usually fried or

broiled, or the fillets may be baked in a sauce. Groupers are caught

throughout the year. The chief market for' groupers is in the south-eastern

States, which receive about three fourths of the catch. Outside

this area, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chicago receive a limited quantity.

Sea Trouts (Genus CynoscionJ

The sea trouts belong to the croaker family and so are related to the

drums, croakers, and spots rather than to the well-known fresh water

trout .. They are exclusively marine fishes and one or more species arc

found all along our coast from Cape Cod to Texas. The spotted sea trout,

Cynoscion nebulosis, is the most important of the group in the southern

fisheries, being taken in some abundance from North Carolina south with

the center of tile fishery in the Gulf. The gray sea trout, C. regalis, is

taken in greater quantity than the spotted in the fisheries of North

Carolina, but farther south it is relatively scarce and in the Gulf it

occurs only occasionally. A third species of some importance is the

white or sand sea trout, C. arenarias, found only in the Gulf. Perhaps

because it is small-ll to 15 inches-it is rather neglected by fishermen.

The spotted sea trout is an excellent game and food fish that brings a

good price at all seasons of the year and is universally popular in the

markets. The flesh is white, tender, and of delicate flavor. The smaller

sizes are sold whole and are best broiled or fried. The larger sizes may

20 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

be baked although they are often filleted and in this form may be

broiled. They are taken throughout the year, but in greatest quantity

in spring, summer, and fall. ,

The white sea trout, the smaller species, is a good pan fish. Although

it is taken now in small quantities-about a quarter of a million pounds

compared with seven million pounds of the spotted sea trout-proba~ly

it will receive proper appreciation in the future when the larger species

are no longer able to meet the demand.

At least in some areas, the spotted trout, unlike most shore fishes,

remains in the shallow waters inshore throughout the year, instead of

moving out into deeper water to escape the cold. In North Carolina it

is one of the few fishes available to the haul seine fishermen during the

12,712

Figure 7.-Thespotted sea trout is the most abundant member of its fomily from the Caro-linas

to Texas.

lean winter season. Ordinary winter temperatures do not affect the

spotted trout adversely but a period of unusual cold will cause large

numbers of them to b~come numb and helpless. At such times they

can be picked up by the bushel along the shores. If taken into a heated

room they quickly revive, so the numbing apparently is not necessarily

fatal.

The larger trout travel in small schools, preying on shrimps and small

fishes. They themselves are taken by large predatory. fishes an~ some-times

are followed and harried by schools of porpoises. Unlike the

mullet, famous jumpers, they swim low in the wa~er, making little or no

ripple at the surface. When close t~ the shore line, they usually move

in with the rising tide and offshore WIth the ebb.

In contrast to the red and black drums, the spotted trout in Texas

usually spawns in inshore bays and lagoons, rather. than in the op~n

Gulf. The spawning season extends from early Ap~Il to September in

Texas in North Carolina probably from May into August. The

spawn'ing female produces from half a million to a million eggs. Prob-ably

most spotted trout mature and spawn for the first time when they

are two years old, and about a foot long. As not infrequently happe.ns

among fishes, the males are smaller than the females, the average dif-ference

being about 2 inches. . . . .

In Texas most of the commercial catch IS made WIth hook ani Ime in

the passes or channels and with drag seines in t~e b3;Ysand lago~ms. A

small amount of gill-net and trammel-net fishing IS done during ~he

winter along the northern Texas coast, and a few fishare taken WIth

light surf seines along the beaches of the Gulf of MeXICO. The largest

FISH AND SHELLFISH 21

I~natTchexesasofantdheNsoprothttedCatrrooluinta.are made on the west coast of Florida and

Redfish or Red Drum (Sciaenops oce/lata)

rk

The

red fish is really silver with a suffused gleam of red over its scales

I e a color reflecte? on metal. Much of this illusive color disappear~

soon after the fish IS ta~en from the water, so that the redfish in the

market lacks the spl~ndld coloration of the red snapper or the New

England rosefish. It IS, however, a graceful"and handsome fish longer

and ~ore slender than the related black drum, and bearing one ~r more

conspICuOUsblack spots at the base of the tail fin.

Figure 8.~The redfish is 0 member of the drum family, but in this species onlythe'2';:~;es

are eqUIpped to make the characteristic drumming noises, while the females are silent.

lI~h might be expected of a fish that is found in commercial quantities

a e way from New Jersey to Texas, the redfish is known by various

names. U:s~ally called redfish on the Gulf coast where it is most

abundant, It ISknown as the red drum or spot bass on the Atlant' t

Surf. anglers, wh? ask for nothing better than a struggle with thi~ ~~: .

fish in the tumblIng breakers, often call it the channel bass y

For market purposes, red fish from 2 to 25 pounds or so are taken the

larger SIzes bem~ dressed a;s steaks or fillets. Redfish larger tha~ 25

pounds are of Interest chiefly to sportsmen, being less tender and

palata,hle than younger fish and also being protected in some States as a

spawmng re~erve. The largest specimens on record were about five feet

long and weighed about 75 pounds.

T~e redfis~ is one of the more important food fishes of the Gulf coast

and IS takeI!' m some quantity also along the South Atlantic shore The

total catch. IS about ~ millio? and a half pounds, of which slightly more

than half IS caught In Florida. Most of the Florida catch in turn is

taken on the west coast. In Texas, where the red fish ranl~s fourth'in

volume of catch among the fin fishes, about a quarter of a million

pounds ar~ caug~t.. The spotted sea trout is the only fish taken in larger

quantIty m LOUISIana. While the fishing seasons for redfish extend

t~roughout the year in the various parts of the southern coast, produc~

tion 'peaks come In the period from February to June and again in the

fall In Texas, and from November to April in Florida

Although the re?fis~ ha~ been known to fishermen 'for at least 60 or

70 years, much of Its Iifa history has been, and still remains, a mystery ..

,---

22 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

Pearson, (1928), studying the species on the southern Texas coast, found

that the fish spawn in that area mainly in the fall of the year. This

part of the coast is bordered by a chain of long, narrow barrier islands

which lie off the mainland, separated from it by a series of bays. Several

channels or passes connect the bays with the open' Gulf, and Pearson

found that the red fish tended to spawn to seaward of these passes, the

newly hatched young then drifting in with the tides and currents to the

bays and lagoons. In these protected waters they develop rapidly and

soon reach a stage where they can swim under their own power and

without regard to prevailing currents. They scatter widely, usually

seeking the quiet, grassy bottoms where they find better protection

from enemies than on bare, sandy bottom. Sometimes this habit reacts

to their destruction, for abnormally low tides may occasionally drain

the water out of these shallow flats and leave the young fish stranded by

the thousand.

With the coming of the cold weather of their first winter, the young

redfish, by this time from 2 to 6 inches long, find their way into the

deeper bayous, which are inland channels between bays or running into

the mainland from the bays. When spring comes they leave the inland

waters for the first time, some going out through the passes to the open

waters of the Gulf, others wandering through the inland bays and

lagoons. Redfish less than a year old have been taken 75 miles from

the nearest pass, through which they must have been carried as eggs or

larval fish.

After their first year most redfish winter in the deeper bays or in the

Gulf, returning to inside waters in the spring. The fall exodus is not

especially noticeable, but the spring migration is undertaken by large

bodies of fish moving together through the various passes, where a good

many are taken by hook and line fishing.

The adult or bull redfish wander up and down the sandy shores of the

Gulf throughout much of the year, assembling in the fall about the

mouths of the passes to spawn. These large fish are seldom seen in the

bays and lagoons, probably because they are easily frightened by the

disturbances made by speedboats in the shallow waters, Pearson suggests.

Redfish are themselves no mean connoisseurs of seafood. Shrimp and

crabs are their favorite foods. They also eat a few fish, especially mullet

and small minnow-like forms, and on occasion take almost any of the

small invertebrate sea life which they come upon in their wanderings.

Redfish grow very rapidly. They are about 13% inches long when a

year old and about 21 inches by the end of the second year. It is be-lieved

that as a practical conservation measure, they should be pro-tected

from capture until they are about 16 inches long, or approxi-mately

a year and a half old. At this length they weigh about three

times as much as at 12 inches, and are a more desirable market size.

Black Drum (Pogonias cromis)

The black drum may be taken anywhere from the shores of Long

Island to the mouth of the Rio Grande, but it is only in Texas that it

becomes a really important commercial species. In that State it ranks

third among the commercial fisheries, only the red snapper and the

spotted sea trout being taken in greater quantity. The amount of drum

caught by all United States fishermen during recent years has run from

one to two million pounds annually, and of this Texas furnishes from 50

to 80 percent. Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina are next in order,

and small amounts are taken in all the other southern States.

FISH AND SHELLFISH 23

weTighheeddru1m46 ipsoaunhdesa-vbyuwt eighfotr among fishic's-t ie largest specimen known

from 8 to 20' h 1 market I~urposes the smaller SIzes ranging

me es ong are most desired, These are ood f d fi h

:hnedfllenh.tdhemselvles to broiling or to baking, provided rat is ~3ded s f~rs

es IS somew rat lean c ,

Quite aside from its food qu iliti tl bl k .

interesting fish. It is probabl a ;hIe~ ~e a? drum IS an exceptionally

of drums or croakers . 1. e es mUSICIanof all the large family

posed fish to be u . to ~flC\It belongs. People who have always sup-many

of them h mver~a y SI ent creatures are surprised to learn that

consid.erable dist:~~e v~b~e.:es~h~o~~'f~~~totfh~heC~~t:~.tu¥ires~e heard a

fects, 10 the case of the drums, are produced by the vibration o~o~;~c~~i

Figure 9.-The black drum is somet~mes "d h 12,697

fresh-wat~r relative thceosehe t he sdea drum to distinguish it from its

, eps ea or gaspergou.

~afd-li~e muscles against the taut air bladder The black d .

P:~~::ou\~ bBa~.eS1~t~~t~~~°flg~eIndian leg~nds i~ the co:;:y I~b~~

~~~lglbe ~ePa~rdnaotnuroarligin~ d~scrib~dta~~s's~?e~~e;~f~~t~~~I~~J ~~~-

. summer evemngs apparentl . . f h '

FIshermen are now well acquaint d ith tl y issuing rom t e water.

they indicate the presence of a ls WI h lese sounds, and know that

drumming is a call to attract the arge ~~ 001 of drums. ~ether the

tentment as at f di . . OPPO~Ie sex or an expression of con-fish

are ~ost VO~:II~g ~Ime'ths.uncertalJ;, but .som~ observers think the

said to drum vel' 1 urmg. ell' spawnmg migration. The males are

_ Th bl k d Y oudly, while the females have softer voices

it is neath~rd t~U~e~:~;~~ft;~:;eo~~~ tOl~J!ete~\I~h~rynge~l teeth that

reported to be an oyster irate of n 00 IS S ~ s.' WhIl~ generally

prefers a small clam w£ich is veryOsmballdapatc!tY'lm Texas It actually

that State These cl a un an m t ie shallow bays of

good haul~ of drum. a~~et:h a:~c~eI~:nfwn to the fishermen as 'yielding

they lie and crush the shells' although ~h~;s ups:of the mud In which

merits along with the meats that at least tW~~~U~dss~f~hny ~lCll frag-taken

from the stomach of a large fish. In som e!il av~ ~een

stockades or fences have been built to k th d e places m LOUISiana

They apparently are gre_at glutto-n, s a~edwheenruefemsmd?gftfhsteanoYdostnerbtheedi~r.

24 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

'heads with their tails out of the shallow water, oblivious to all but the

meal at hand. d reat deal of their time in the

On the Texas coast the drums spen ~ ~"nter Sometimes the water

shallow inshore bays, both sUI~merban me~ so 'shallow that they have

in the passages to the deeper ay~ ec~ and often are badly lacerated

great difficulty navigating these c ;~~~e:aid that farmers used to chase

by passing over the oyster reefs, . 1 it hf rks

the large drum overkthe ~~llow~ ~v:~~P;h~ir ~lde~s that they were f~r-

Young drums 100 so .1 eren . ts to belong to a different species

merly supposed, even,,~y \ih~h~~~~~~ b~cause of the broad. brow~ and

and were called the an e 11 rown the drum IS a silvery

white bands on their sides. When ft~ y g 0 en Gulf are often more

black with black fins. Those taken 1~1 t~; ~he whisker-like barbels

silvery; those in inshore .waters more .a .

on the lower jaw are typical of the tpeCl~. d silvery and are extensively

The scales of the black dru~ ar,e arge. e~el~ They are so hard and

used in making ornament.al.obJects and lo renIo've them with a hatchet.

so firmly embedded .that It IS ne~:~:G.te February to May-the black

Before the spawmng season- . t th Gulf spawning later near

drum move out through the ~asses mt 0 the inside waters soon after

the entrances. The young .rum enre at least 4 inches long. A year-hatching,

remaining t~ere until th.ey ~ve- ear fish, 23 inches. The fish

old drum is about 10 inches lo~~, t14 inches long) and annually there-spawn

when about two years b t 6000000 eggs.

after. A four-foot drum'produce~ :: °t~e black drum which is a more

Sportsmen are seldom mtereste . m. d drum orredfish. Some of

sluggish fish than its g;raceful rela~lv~ tl~e/~ne but the heaviest catches

the commercial catch IS made ~m 00 a ,

are made with gill nets and seines,

Shrimp (Penaeus sefiferus)

. f the most popular crustacean

The Gulf coast is the chief sour~h~ American people eat ten times

in the United States-the shn~Phlf gain as much as they consume

as much shrimp as l~~~ter .flJ? paoun~s of shrimp taken from the sea

of crab. And of the, mi IOn d etizin cooked dishes, 85 pe~-

each year for cocktaIls, fsaladst' and 6a:p

Percenl from the State of LOUl-cent

comes from the Gul coas an

siana alone.. th t . f thers and grandfathers, unless they

It is safe to assume a our th coast knew very little about

happened to. live alon~ th\:~uou;r~rst st~tistics were gathered, the

shrimp, for in the 1880 s, ':"11' ds . After the turn of the century

catch was on.ly about 110wmlyi IO17n pmoi~ll~io. n poun ds in 190r<l, 24 millilo' n. in it began to mcrease so. - 1927 th .eld of this small but de ICIOUS

1910, 57 million in 1920. By Oo_milli~J..lpound mark, and in 1940 it

crustacean had passed the 1

reached 150 million pounds. r man ears the most familiar

While canned shrimp .has ~ee~:o d tKe ~reater use of fresh and

market form, an interesting tren e~~drof the war. During 1943, for

frozen shrimp set m dunn~ t~e i~p on the Gulf coast declined 25 per-example,

the pack of canne s. r ar although the catch increased

cent compared with t~~t?revho~~leY~m~ediate reasons for the decline

by about 10 p~rcent. oug f war conditions such as the shortage

of shrimp canning aredthtehreh~lg\Oprices obtainable for fresh shrimp,

of cannery labor an e 1

FISH AND SHELLFISH 25

many dealers predict that frozen peeled shrimp will be the mainstay

of the postwar industry.

Since some shrimp are taken throughout the year, even the fresh

product is available at any season, but much the heaviest production

takes place in the late summer and fall-usually the months from

August through December.

In life, the shrimp looks much like a small lobster. However, only

the meat in the tailor abdomen is eaten, for the claws, which in the

lobster furnish a good quantity of meat, are so small that most people

would fail even to notice them. The so-called head contains the vital

organs and is discarded by the packer, only the edible portions being

shipped. The living shrimp is a pale green or gray creature and is

12,886

Figure 1D.-The shrimp, a small relative of the lobster and the crab, supports the largest

and most valuable food fishery of the South.

semi-transparent. The pink or reddish color develops upon cooking.

The life story of 'an individual shrimp begins in the spring or sum-mer,

when spawning takes place in the offshore waters. The eggs,

mere specks of living matter, are discharged by the female and prob-ably

remain near the ocean bottom during the period of rapid devel-opment

that precedes hatching. This habit of the shrimp is entirely

different from that of the closely related crabs and lobsters, in which

the females carry the eggs on the abdominal appendages until they

hatch.

The young shrimp hatch from the eggs in a very short time-prob-ably

about 14 hours. The newly hatched larva is able to swim about

for itself and probably leaves the sea bottom very soon and moves

up into the surface waters. As it floats in the currents, feeding on

the minute life about it, the baby shrimp undergoes a series of changes

and finally comes to resemble the adult form. By this time the cur-rents

have carried it in to the coast line, where it enters the shallow

inside waters and river estuaries and again takes up a bottom-dwelling

habit. These inside waters are important nursery grounds for the

young shrimp during the spring and summer.

Since the spawning season of the shrimp extends over a period of

several months-from March or April to August or September-this

means that some young shrimp are arriving in the coastal area through-out

the entire summer. The earliest arrivals reach commercial size

during the month of July and by September practically the entire

catch is made up of young shrimp from the spawning of the preced-

26 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

ing spring. The small shrimp winter on the inside grounds and along

the beaches, but most of the larger shrimp move out into the open

Atlantic or the Gulf to escape the chilly inside waters. Winter fisheries

for these large shrimp now exist, and the so-called jumbo shrimp are

taken in March, April, May, and June, These mature shrimp,

now somewhat more than a year old, arc caught throughout the summer

on the offshore fishing grounds, but by September, when a new crop

appears on the outside grounds, the older shrimp make up a very small

percentage of the catch. Presumably the life span of the shrimp is

between one and two years. .

Several of the southern States have adopted measures to protect

the young, rapidly growing shrimp on their inshore nursery areas dur-ing

the summer and fall. By waiting until the shrimp have made more

of their growth, fewer individuals would be required to make up the

normal 150-million pound annual catch.

About two-thirds of the entire United States catch of shrimp is taken

in Louisiana. Texas follows with ten percent, while Mississippi, Flor-ida,

and Georgia each contribute 5 or 6 percent, North Carolina and

Alabama 3 percent each, and South Carolina only 1 percent. Almost

the entire catch is taken by small otter-trawl boats which drag bag-like

nets along the bottom. Cast netting, formerly rather important,

still brings in a few shrimp and very small incidental catches may be

made by other gear such as haul seines.

The Oyster (Ostrea virginicaJ

Southern fishermen make more money from oysters than from any

other item in their catch except shrimp and mullet. The annual yield

of oysters in the States from North Carolina to Texas is some 20 mil-lion

pounds, from which fishermen get slightly 1pore than a million

dollars, actually a higher return per pound than they receive from the

more productive shrimp and mullet fisheries.

Although the production of oysters now is about the same as fifty

years ago considering the southern area as a whole, every State from

North Carolina south shows a decline with the single exception of

Louisiana. In contrast, that State produces four times as many oysters

now as it did in the 1890's, and since its increase about matches the

decline in all other southern coastal States combined, the total output

shows little change.

The oyster that grows along the' South Atlantic and Gulf coasts is

the same species that occurs all the way up the Atlantic coast to Cape

Cod, and sparingly beyond that point to Prince Edward Island in

the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is one of three species of oysters taken

commercially in the United States, the other two being found on the

Pacific coast, most abundantly in the State of Washington.

In point of size, the Atlantic coast or eastern oyster is midway be-tween

the tiny Olympia oyster of Puget Sound, the meat of which is

about as big asa man's thumb nail, and the enormous Pacific or

Japanese oyster, which has been known to grow a foot or more in

length, although it averages much less., Under the best possible condi-tions,

the eastern oyster might attain a length of 8 or 10 inches, but

actually they are marketed when considerably smaller, Several stand-ard

market sizes of shucked oysters have been established by custom,

the smallest being known as standards, medium size as selects, and the

largest as counts.

Most oysters are now sold. as shucked meats, having been removed

FISH AND SHELLFISH 27

from the shells in shuckin h .

tongers or dredgers. Dep~ndi~se~;ot wl.Hch.they are delivered by the

~OO eastern oysters in a gallon g Althohuel~SIze, there. are from 150 to

IS on t?e wane, some oysters a~'ll ~ the. trade m shelled oysters

for this product coming chi fle sil shippo] In the shell, the demand

others ~re canned. Practical! Yallr~tthhotels and restaurants. Still

t~e l!mted States areprepaied in th e canned oysters produced in

BJlOXl,Miss., is now the world e southern area. The city of

title once held by Baltimore I center f?r. t~e canning of oysters a

and Louisiana 79614 cases' th~ 1943,.~lSSlSSlppi packed 85,151 ca~es

canneries in the States of North r:rSmm~ 50,09~ cases coming from

and Alabama. Normally somea tout Carolma, Georgia, Florida

coast, but there was no c~nning . o~~.ers are. canned on the Pacifi~

nected with the war. in 18 area In 1943 for reasons con- .

Oyster cultivation which reache .

England (Carson 1'943) is t's dltS.greatest development in New

areas. Th e most ' I.mportant porfactheIcsee' inLthe" South onIy m. certain

all o:\:,sterscome flom cultivated d IS. ourslana~ where practically

p!actlce of cultivation has ke t oant pnvately .1eas~d bottoms. This

h:gh .level, while other southefn sl:t:: £roductlO~ In Louisiana at a

dications that scientific oyst f ' ave declmed. There are in-

Carolina and some additionar annmf

g may be undertaken in North

. Because of th 1 . areas a tel' the war.

of condiiti.ons beteweeonngHcaottaesrtalsine~ odystthers . grow under qui.ts a variety

people are surprised to learn th ~ . ~ southern Texas coast. Many

the bottom of the ocean proper a I o~s ~s thever g.r0w abundantly on

bays, sounds, and river mouth~ wh~ ea th ey .t~rlve best in enclosed

by the influx of fresh water f ' ,re e salinity has been reduced

northern bays such as the Chom nkers and streams. In the more

grow some distance offshore in water e or the Delaware, they may

much .of the southern coast the 0 :~e30bo~ more fee~ deep, but along

and high water marks In the h 11 I' e s are mainly between low

coast, the natural oyster beds a~easel; bays and estuaries of the Gulf

of water. In southern Florid om unde~ more than 2 or 3 feet

t?e aerial roots of the mangr~' °lsters sometImes grow attached to

tide, and on the Gulf coast theve ree~, submerged only by the high

edges of the marshes in Iaei y some rmes grow on the grass at the

On the Gulf coast'the ;paces. where only the highest tides reach.

?ne, beginning in March an~n:~~t,sea.son .of the oyster is a very long

ISthe oyster that a female may pro~~:~1r~nto No,:el?ber.So prolific

eggs at one spawning, or several hund d m.t~million to 114 million

egg~.and sperms, discharged into th re mi h~n In a summer. The

fertilized egg produces a free-sw' . e. water, un,lte by chance and the

~he young oyster swims about l~mmg larva !n ~nly 5 to 10 hours.

tion of minute hairlike cilia aFctlvelb

yp,ropelling Itself by the vibra-of

th e t'1d'es and currents an.d or a out two weeks 1't' IS a creature

spawning took place. At the end~r tt~vel ~ar !r~m the place where

larva, about one seventy-fifth of" h .per:od It IS a fully developed

~obecome transformed into the .u~~~n~ m diameter, and is now ready

m general appearance. Before Jit can d fo~r' which resembles the adult

dom of motion by attaching itself fir ~ l1S,It must give up its free-substance

which it secretes) to a I' k 1I~ ~I (by means of a cementlike

attached, an oyster is never able t~~~~eeab~r othe! har~ object. Once

although oysters growing in soft mud ' ~t again of ItS own accord

openmg and closi?g of the shells. may shift their position by brisk

The act of settmg or striking, as the attachment of the Ia rva I oyster

rr::":

28 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

is called, is full of danger, for even a few grains of drifting silt are

enough to smother the tiny creature, and any larvae that come down

on a surface covered with algae or other marine growths are unable

to attach themselves and quickly die. Those which make a successful

landing on a clean, hard surface soon change from the larval form into

miniatures of the adult oyster, and in two weeks after setting-at the

age of about four weeks-have shells a quarter of an inch long. Oysters

from this size to two inches long are known as "seed oysters." In south-ern

waters, where the water ordinarily is warm enough for oysters to

grow and feed during the whole year, they reach market size in two to

three years. About four years are required in Long Island Sound, where

the cold winters cause them to go into a state resembling hibernation.

On the uncultivated reefs of the South are found many long, narrow,

and irregularly shaped oysters which are known as coon oysters, a name

said to have been given them because raccoons feed on them. These

oysters are of little market value because the meats are small and

poorly shaped. The coon oyster is the product of two conditions com-monly

found along southern coasts-soft, muddy bottoms and excessive

crowding of oysters in a narrow zone along the shore. Single oysters

tend to sink vertically into the mud so that the shell stands on one end

and then to grow into long, narrow, sharp-edged specimens. Other

oysters crowd in closely around it, attach to its shells, and further in-crease

the distortion of shape. Small coon oysters broken apart and

planted on firm bottom change their form and develop into the typical

pear-like shape of a good market oyster. Galtsoff (1930) points out

that the coon oyster is not a geographic race but a product of its en-vironment,

and says that in earlier days typical "coon oysters" existed

in Long Island Sound, for they have been discovered in dredgings at

the mouth of the Housatonic River.

During their comparatively short lives oysters f-acemany dangers.

On the Gulf coast, especially, flood waters from the rivers or the break-ing

of levees may reduce the salinity of the water over the oyster beds

so greatly that large numbers die. Heavy storms may bury the beds

under sand or dislodge clusters of oysters and throw them on the beach.

Gales have sometimes been known to establish new beds by shifting

oysters to areas where none had grown before. Besides storms and

floods, oysters also have many natural enemies. Clams, conchs, and

oyster drills which bore into their shells, and a peculiar sponge of a

bright yellow color which bores into the shell and causes it to dissolve

away are the most important of these enemies in the South.

In its diet, the oyster is largely vegetarian. Most of its food con-sists

of the minute, one-celled plants called diatoms which are carried

to its mouth in the water which the oyster draws through its gills. The

diatoms, like other marine plants, are nourished by the various minerals

in the sea-water, and because of its diet the oyster itself is an excellent

source of copper, iron, iodine, and other minerals essential in human

nutrition. It also contains most of the essential vitamins, protein of

high nutritive value, and starch in the easily digested form known as

glycogen.

Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus)

The common blue crab of the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts is taken

all along the eastern seaboard hom New York to Texas. While more

blue crabs have always come from the Chesapeake Bay than from any

other section, the yield from more southern areas has been growing

steadily. The State of Louisiana now produces almost half as many

FISH AND SHELLFISH 29

crabs as are taken in the Chesa eake C .

million pounds, North and So ~h C· rompared WIth LOUisiana's 14

eac~, !"lorida about 6 million, ~eorgi:r~~n~ produce ab?u~ ~ ~illion

2 mIll!On each, and Texas only about' 250aogffa, and MISSISSIPPI1 to

Unlike Its relative th hri ,po\lnds.

found in the open sea 'but e rSef~~mp,the blue crab IS only occasionally

where it lives in waters r~ngin: ~ays, ~ounds, and the .mouths of rivers,

01: even fresh. The so-called ro~ rue ocean saltiness to brackish

RIver are taken in fresh water ~~ee~lwaier crabs of the Atchafalaya

common in the Newport River of rm es rom ~ts mouth, and crabs are

commercial fisheries are in the b NorthdCarolma. However, the chief

most numerous. ays an sounds, where the crabs are

F'

'gure II.-The blue crab of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts is one f h b ",724

in the world. 0 t e est known crustaceans

. Because the Chesapeake fisher f b

I.ished and also because th e bay Yappoarrenertlay s has idbeeaen longest estab- j mgs fo~ their propagation, the habits and n hprovI es Ideal surround-known

in the Chesapeake than an h. 1 e Istory of crabs are better

probably similar in all sections IYWere else. The general features are

Each year between the first 'oflOJwever.

Chesapeake Bay, a new generation ~~e and ~he end of August, in the

son the female extrudes the tiny crabs

h

IS produced. ~t this sea-ameter,

and these together form a elggs, eacU a!,lout 1/100 inch in di-

"sponge" and remain attached to ~~ge1e°rlsh mass known as the

develop within the e s th e ema e crab. As the young

about 15 days. Each ~~bY :rase~~~bobecomes dark~r. They hatch in

somewhat. like a question mark and h~t 1/25 of ~n inch long, is shaped

a long tail, At this stage it I'S'k as seveu"palrs of appendages and

~oea sheeddss JItS shell s~everal timesonwAnftears tah zfoi~~ " As. I.t grows the

It changes into a form that is mor~ truly b~'k or SIxth shedding

lops." Probably the first molt of th c~a 1 e. This is the "mega-youngster

into the true crab form b~t ~te~a dOPs'dchangest~e. developing

,lIS eCI edly a mlmature crab ,

30 CONSEIWATION BULLETIN 37

only 1/8 inch across. This stage .I.S reac.hed about one month after_

hatching. . b molts about 15 times before reach

After the megalops stage thedcra nd then after gradually: le~gthen-ing

maturity, at first every 6 ay~ ~ween final molts. Ordmanlytl~e

ing periods up to about. 25. daJ:s ~ith every molt. Crabs reach their

fcurallb ggroawintsh aabnodut moantuer-itthyi,rd amn dScIeZ~se to molt, during their second .sum-mer

when 12 to 14 month~ old. I once in her Iifc-e-immediately

F~r the female crab, matmg ?cc~:~1~n ~he soft-shelled condition. In

after the last molt, wh~n .she IS fl I d~~ing the last of July or August.

the Chesapeake Bay this IShusua Iy at this time is retained by the fe-

TheIesperm received f~o.mt e rna ~cessive batches of eggs as. she may

rna and used to fe.rtidlize sfuhcehr slli}fe Usua IIy the first spawnmg takfesI lay during the remam er 0 . Id or during the summer 0-

place when the fema~e ~ rboud ~~~ar:O~1e' females live over another

lowing mating. It IS e ieve n 3 ears old but that few or none

wlivinetelronganerd tdheapnostiht.ism, orT\ elegf~ewshp~n olthe mal~ is probably about the

same length. f the oung crabs hatched in the .Iower

In the Chesapeake m.ost 0 I~:rd mi ration. Cold weather inter-part

of the bay soon ~ef~n a n~nel to the b~ttom and cease to feed and

rupts this journey an. ~y se more to their liking. In the sprmg

also to grow un~il conditions ~re th roceeds, and finally they reach

their mizration IS resumed, grow p b It follows that the matmg

Marylandb waters as near Iy matbure f etrhae sb.ay takes place m. MIanrdy a he

of the majority of the blue era s ~o the lower bay, but mo~t of t e

After mating the. females J~tu~he winter in deep holes or m creek~

males remain behind, s

p

enfil:f the crabs taken in the lower part. 0

tahned briavyersd.urinOgnlytheabo'Y';lmt ~ae! are 0rnaales . Nearly all the sponge-bear"mg

crabs are found in VIr

g

lmia .~a~:~. impression that the so-calle.d

h

hMany people have t 1~ mrs a t m refers to any crab whio afst

crab" is it distinct species. The erhell has hardened. As the soft-shed

its· old shell,. before the. new ~od eating large numbers of YOU!!g

s~hraebllsed arcerabsoiusghcot nsinidetrheed sepsr~inegcIalalnYl ear Iy sum~er while they are still

molting. '. I I hel less to defend itsel~ or even

A newly molt~d crab IS partIc~ ~IYcastFng of the shell r~qUl:es only

to escape by s>yImmmg. The ~CI u to an hour if the c~ab IS disturbed

a few minutes If all go~s .well JP a series of convulsive movements,

or has suffered rece~t injury. . n f legs from the old encasements,

the crab withdra:ws ItS fi:re

hltirfar~e claws, and backs out of t~e she~I.

having greatest difficulty WI~ .1e and wrinkled and the animal IS

Under the old shell the ~kIll .IS so~t crab selects some sheltered place

flabby and helpless. Ordm~nl~h~h 12 hours until the new shell hardeps

to undergo the molt, for d~~~ et upon by large fish or even by Its

it is in imminent d.anger 0 emg ~n a crabber's dip net. . .

own kind, or of bemg. scoope~. up I. ast off one or more of their legs

Crabs have the CU!IOUSabIhty}o .~ ht and held by one leg. A sud-and

will usc this habit to escap~ Im~~i~es cause one or se:,e!al legb..tden drop in temperature may so curs across one of the Jo.mts: w ICh

be snapped off. The break always oOfbcleeding to death. Ordinarily, the

protects the crab from the danger three or four replacements of the

legs are regenerated. As 'Wany

I~s the regenerative process, three or

sfoamure maoplptsendaargee suafrfeic.iapnots~ 0 ep'rovide a new, full-size limb.

FISH AND SHELLFISH

On the Gulf coast the heaviest production falls in thc months of

May, June, July, and August. Some crabs are sold whole as taken

from the water, in which case they should be alive when purchased,

whether in the hard or soft shelled condition. Many people, however,

prefer to buy the meat ready for usc, and so most of the crabs caught

on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts go to the packing houses where they

are cooked and the meat removed and packed in convenient containers.

Except for one cannery in South Carolina and two in Louisiana, the

canning of crabs is confined to the Pacific coast, where a different

isnpeNcieews iEsngtalaknend,. and toa small canning industry for the rock crab

At the present time the most important markets for fresh crab are

the cities of the Atlantic seaboard, which have long been familiar with

this perishable product and know how to give it the special handling it

requires. On the other hand, few mid-western cities know the blue

crab as well, and as a result the interior markets to which the Gulf

coast product could most profitably be shipped have not been fully

developed. This lack of near-by markets for fresh crab has been an

important factor in;holding back the devolpment of a large fishery in

the Gulf. Whether it could ever become as largc as the Chesapeake

fishery, however, is something that cannot be predicted until the crab

Populations of the region are investigated by a proper biological study.

Other Fish and Shellfish

The menhaden is one of the most interesting fishes on the Atlan-tic

seaboard.. It supports one of the oldest fisheries in America, ranks

second in volume of production ~mong all United States fishes, and

is caught in greater quantity on the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts

than all other fin fishes combined. Despite its importance, it is one

of the least known fishes in our waters, for few people have ever

heard of it. The explanation of this surprising situation is simple.

Although almost every person in the United States has at some time

been indebted to the menhad(jn for something he eats, wears, or uses,

the fish has seldom been used extensively as food and so has not become

. familiar to the public. It is included in this bUlletin on food fishes

for two reasons; the recent development of canned menhaden which

may make this product generally available after the war, and the fact

that meal and oil derived from menhaden are so important to our live-stock

and poultry industries that this fish is only one step removed

from the ham, fried chicken, and eggs on all our tables.

Although the fact is seldom recognized, several species of menhaden

are found in United States waters, the most important one on the Atlan-tic

coast being Brevoortia tyrannus. The menhadens Occur all the way

from Nova Scotia to Florida, and southward to Brazil, but are seldom

taken north of Cape Cod, and only small and scattered fisheries are

carried on in the Gulf of Mexico. In the South Atlantic region the most

important fisheries are located in North Carolina and Florida, the chief

menhaden center being the town of BeaUfort, N. C.The catch for

the entire area amounts to about 250,000,000 Pounds, or 68 percent of

the catch of all species of fish, and 43 percent of the catch of all fish

iasndaboshuet llf6i0sh0,0c0o0m,0b0i0nepdo.undTsh. e total United States catch of menhaden

Although enterprising Yankees canned menhaden as sardines a cen-tury

ago, there had been little use of this fish as food-except by fisher-men

or other people in fishing communities-until a small canning indus-

31

II

~

II

li

32 CONSEltvATION BULLETIN 37

try was developed at F.ernandina) Fla., during the war. Practi?al~y

the entire output of this enterprise has been sent to Great Britain

through Lend-Lease channels, but some canning has a!so been done at

Reedville, Va., and this product has ~o.und its way into the g:ocery

stores of nearby States. In all prob~bIhty, canned menhaden WIll be-come

familiar to a much larger public after the war when large-scale

canning becomes feasible.

Being members of the herri.ng famil!, the menh~dens. resemble the

more familiar shad and the rrver herrings or alewives in appearance

and general characteristics. Like these relatives, they h:;LVea rich

and oily flesh. Most of the oil is removed during .the canning process

and only .the large, meaty cuts from the back region are packed.

8,816

Figure 12.-The menhaden, a member of the herring family, swims in large schools at the

surface of the sea.

The food of menhaden consists entirely of the minute surface ~ife

of the sea which they strain from the water by means o.f a sieve-like

structure in the back of the mouth. Large schools of feeding menhaden

give the water a brassy tinge because of the strong yellow luster of

their flanks, and this color helps fishermen to locate the sch.ools.

For several generations the manufacture of meal and 011 has. over-shadowed

all other uses for menhaden. One third .of all the. fish meals

and a quarter of the marine animal oils produced m the Umted States

are products of the menhaden industry. The meals !lre. fed ~o h.ogs

and poultry to provide th~ indisp.ensabl~ an~mal p~otelI~ in their diet;

the oils are used in preparing .fortified vitamin feedu:g OIls for. poultry.

The industrial uses of menhaden oil are n:a~y. .It IS a constituent of

many paints, varnishes, insect sprays,. pnnt~ng mks-, and soap. The

oil is used also as a lubricant of machinery, in aluminum casting, and

in leather tanning. . .

The shad Alosa sapidissima, was formerly one of the most Impor-tant

food fishes of the South Atlantic coast, but the catch has now

declined to only about a tenth of the 10.•000,000-pound level ~t t~e

turn of the century. Despite its reduced Importance, however, It still

brings the fishermen of Geo:gi~ a larger. income than any other fin

fish and in South Carolina It IS second in value only to the mullet.

NoAh Carolina with an annual catch of about 800,000 pounds, rar;ks

fourth among the States of the Atlantic seaboard in the production

of Lsihkaed.the salmon, the shad is a: fish that spen ds most.o f 'ts t' , its mme III

the ocean but runs into coastal rivers to spawn above tidewater. The

FISH AND SHELLFISH 33

young, are hatched in fresh water and at the end of their first sum-mer

drop down stream and enter the ocean. They are not seen after

mthaetyureleaavdeultths.e streams until they return, three or four years later , as

. The shad is a seasonal fish all along the coast, and is caught earlier

m Flonda than anywhere else. The runs of shad begin there in Decem-ber,

and the first shad to reach northern markets come from Florida

The largest catches in that State are made in the St. Johns River and

at a considerable distance above its mouth. The shad runs in North

Carolina begin in February.

T~e shad is the largest and most prized member of the herring family,

and IS generally regarded as one of the best food fishes of the Atlantic

coast. In the 1870's it was transplanted to the Pacific coast where it

does not o?cur naturally, and it took hold so well in its new ~urround-m~

s that It now occurs from California to southeastern Alaska, and

shlpment:s ar~ r~gularly made from the Pacific coast to eastern markets.

The decline in ItS abundance on the Atlantic coast is the result of ex-

• 8,105 Figure 13.-The shad may again be abundant in many southern rivers if proper conservation

measures are applied.

cessive fishing and, in some waters, to pollution or to dams without

adequate fishways. The fact that a complete recovery of the much

depleted HUdson. River runs has been brought about by careful regula-t~

on of the catch mdlcates that in the future, if proper management prac-stiecaebsoaardre....

followed, we may have more shad all along the Atlantic

Sha~ is ordinarily sold fresh, although some is frozen in the Middle

AtlantIc area. Market sizes are from llh to 8 pounds. It is usually

sold whol~, and a baked, stuffed shad is considered one of the finest

seafood dishes. A very choice market form to be recommended for

the ease of preparation, is boned shad fillets,'

The common pompano, Trachinotus carolinus, is One of the

choicest of all food fishes although the supply, unfortunately is not

large. The annual catch is only a little more than half a' million

pounds! almost all of which is ~aken in Flori.da. Bec.ause the pompano

IS so hIghly regarded for the nch, yet peculiarly delIcate flavor of its

flesh, fishermen receive several times as much for it, per pound, as they

do for most other fishes. The height of the pompano season is from

late January to April. The average market size is about 1 to llh

34 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

pounds. Most of the catch is marketed fresh, and large shipments are

made to northern markets.

Adult pompanos are found 'from Virginia to Brazil and the young

stray as far north as Cape Cod. Except for t~e wanderings of the

young, this fish does not seem to mlgra~e extenslv~ly. . .

The pompano is a. member of the family Carangld~e, wh~ch mclu~es

the amberfish, the jacks, and the lookdown fish. It I.Sa thin fis~ with

a deeply forked tail and is covered with small scales WIth a blue, ~I1ver~,

or golden luster. It is toothless in the adult stage, but despite this

fact feeds on small mollusks and crustaceans. Since it seldom takes

the hook, it is not a game species.

Not a great deal is known of its life history. It seems to prefer

sandy bottom near shore where it fee~s. Schools .of pom~ano are

abundant about inlets where they play in and out WIth the tides. In

North Carolina small' ones, from half an inch to two inches long, are

often seen in the surf on the outer beaches, the waves repeatedly cast-ing

them out on the wet sand, from which they jump back into the

next breaker.

12,711

Figure 14.-0f the three species that occur on the Atlantic coast, only the common pompano,

shown here, is an important food fish.

The snook, robalo, or sergeant fish, Centropomus ur:decimalis,

is a common fish of the southwest coast of Florida, where It supports

a small commercial fishery and is also one of the most important sport

fishes of the region. It also occurs on the coast of Texas and south-ward

through the West Indies. In the United States it is the only well

known representative of its family, a group of tropical fishes found

on both coasts of America.

In Florida the snook is taken by several different kinds of gear, of

which hand lines are the most important. Large fish often swim close

inshore, where most of the fishing is done. The snook also ascends

streams but seldom goes above the limits of brackish water.

The ~nook is a good food fish, with an excellent flavor and a white

and flaky meat .. The annual catch runs to about half it million pounds.

The average size is 3 pounds, though a large snook may weigh as much

---::-c------------

FISH AND SHELLFISH 35

as ?O .. The larger fish are marketed as steaks, and are best baked or

broiled, .

8,087

Figure IS.-Called Gulf pike, sergeant fish, brochet de mer, and snook, this is by any name

an excellent market fish and a favorite of sportsmen.

The grunts make up a large family of fishes which are related to

the ~nappers and are found chiefly in tropical waters. Many of them

are Important food fishes wherever they are locally abundant. One of

th~ best known along t~e South Atlantic coast is the pigfish, Oriho-pristes

chrysopterus. Fishermen often take it in haul seines for it is

common; on sandy shores. Averaging about half a pound~although

. some welg~ as m';lch as two pounds-the pigfish falls in the panfish cate-gory

and IS considered very good eating.

Several grunts of the genus II aemulon are among the staple food

fishes of the Key West area, where, according to the colloquial expres-

SIOn,when ~ll other fo.od supplies fail the natives fall back on "grits

and grunts, The white and yellow grunts, IIaemulon plumieri and

H. SCturus, are the most abundant there.

Grunts are so n~me.d be~ause they are able to produce as audible

sou,nd, 8:1t~ough SCIentists disagree as to just how this is done. Some

b~heve It !S by scraping the pharyngeal teeth against the gill arches,

With the all' bladder acting as a resonator.

Grl!nts are often seen in shallow water and about docks where they

nose into cracks and crevices in search of food. Schools' of them lie

rather quietl~ during the day, but break up and scatter to feed at night.

Some species of IV';Ints are remarkable in having the inside of the

mouth ?olored a bnlha,nt red. Just what purpose this color serves is

uncertaI!1, but ~wo fish in pu.gnacious mood will sometimes rush at each

o~her With their mouths Wide open and the brilliant interiors fully

displayed.

The sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus of the Atlantic and

Gulf. c?asts might be se~n anywhere from Texas to the Bay of Fundy,

but It I~ abundant only in the South and the center of the commercial

fishery IS on the west coast of Florida. The annual commercial catch

now amounts to half a million pounds or more, although formerly it was

much larger. As a member of the porgy family thesheepshead is closely

related to the familiar scup or porgy that is an important commercial

fish northward from Virginia. It is not to be confused with the fresh-water

sheepshead, which is a member of the drum or croaker family

_The sheepshead is often taken about wharves breakwaters and

sunken wrecks where it finds abundant food. It is fOhd of crabs ,oy'sters ,

36 CONSERVATION'BULLETIN 37

., h easily in its strong teeth. In inlets,

and other shellfish which Ithe Lides d ] the South does not seem to

it moves in an,d out with ,t e 1 e: :~ni~n season, which occurs in the

migrate extensively. Durmgbtlh~ p h olsgand move into shallow water

spring, t~e sheepshead assem e in sc 0

to Tdheeposliatrgtehset esghgese.pshea d on recor d weighed about 20 pounds but the

1%,940

Figure l6.-The pI.gfIlSh I.Sone 0 f the commonest food fishes along South Atlantic sho.res.

h I The larger fish may be filleted,

tahveerasgmeallseirze siso,ldofwchooulers.e, Tmehumc eeas~. is white , tender, and pleasantly

flaAvorreedla. ted speci.es, the pm. fish Lagodon rhom, boides, is a food fish of

some importance in Florida and North Carolina.

1%,685

well as commercial fishermen take the sheepshead, a fish

Figure l7.-Salt-water angle~~a~sprefers warm southern waters.

Ii I

I

I

I

FISH AND SHELLFISH 37·

The blue runner or hardtail, Caranx crysos, has always been

esteemed as a food fish on the Gulf coast, where it seems to be most

abundant, but it has never been taken in large quantities, the catch

usually falling well below a million pounds. Recently, there has been

some increase in the production of this fish and in 1942 some 700,000

pounds were taken on the east coast of Florida, in addition to the Gulf

coast catch. Too little is known about the biology of this fish to predict

how large a fishery it could support, but it seems likely it could provide

a considerably larger poundage than is now being taken.

Like the pompano, the blue runner is a member of the family Carangi-dae,

all of which are active swimmers irihabiting warm seas. Although

found all the way from Cape Cod to Brazil, the blue runner is taken

iI1

Figure l8.-The blue runner is one of the under-utilized species of the South.

IZ,939

commercially only in Florida and Alabama. It has many different

common names: horse crevalle in North Carolina, jurel, skipjack, and

jack-fish in Florida.

In the vicinity of Pensacola, the migratory schools of the blue runner

appear in April, are most numerous in May. Along the southern coast

of Florida they are abundant in winter. They follow schools of small

fish, sometimes leaping out of the water in pursuit of them. They, in

their turn, are chased by sharks and porpoises, and are sometimes driven

ashore in numbers.

The blue runner is a slim bodied fish, rather more green than blue

above, golden yellow or silvery below. It attains a length of 20 inches

and a weight of 4 pounds. Most of the catch is taken in haul seines,

which are operated in shallow water along the shore.

The crevalle or common jack, Caranx hippos, a close relative of

the blue runner and the pompano, is taken in quantities of about a

quarter of a million pounds on the west coast of Florida, but nowhere

else in important numbers. This is the most abundant of the various

species of jacks or runners that are found about Key West. It is a good

food fish, commanding a ready sale in the markets. Most of the com-mercial

catch is taken in gill nets, but the crevalle may also be taken

by trolling and is of some interest to anglers. The average weight is

about a pound, although it not infrequently runs to-If) pounds and the

record weight is about 20. Although it is found throughout the year, it

is most common during the winter months.

38 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

. h eastern seaboard as for north as Massa~huse"s.

Figure 19.-The crevalle. whIch occurs on~ e Ib ore horse mackerel,cavally, and (ack.

has a number of common names. su as a ac ,

d fi h with white flaky, and del-

The flounders are excellent foo sc~sin the south 'amounts to only

icately flavored meat, but the total. cf~ hermen While some are taken

about a million pounds by commth'cIf s t catches are made in North

in each of the coastal States, e arges .

Carolina, Florida, and Texas. t k along the South Atlantic and Gulf

Three kinds of flounders are. a en all that it has little commercial

coasts, although one of thlem IS so srnflounder Paralichthys dentatus,

importance. These. are ttle sfmme\h as the ~orthern part of Florid~;

found on the AtlantIc coas as a~ sou mmon on both South Atlantic

the southern flounder, r lethfIs~g:d~r c;eferred to above, P. albiguttus,

and Gulf coasts; and t ie sma . f d Gulf coasts. For the market no

which a~so occurs ?n both Atl~n ~~d~all species being lumped together

distinctIOn of species usua\ly IS,Ih to 'tell one flounder from another the

as flo~nders. Fo~ those w 10 WISJfu!. In southern Florida o~ anywhere

followmg suggestIOns may ~le hel] imple for only two speCIes occur~

on the Gulf coast th~ pro em IS/hI ti ~us is uniformly dark colored

lethostigmus and alb1gu.ttus. .Lett:: h~s a number of conspicuous spots,

on the upper. surface! wh~lealblg~d it From North Carolina to northern

each dark WIth a :vlnte, ring arorttl ~ore difficult because three speCIes

Florida the identIficatIOn IS ale

d f Chesapeake Bay to Texas. is the common

Figure 20.-The southern f1OU;~;~~/~~:nde~o:nthe Gulf coast.

FISH AND SHELLFISH 39

are concerned. However, lethostigmus is still easy to recognize because

it lacks spots. As between dentatus and albiguttus, both of which bear

the ringed spots, remember that albiguttus is smaII and that its spots are

fewer-usually three placed in a rough triangle plus several accessory

spots, compared with six major and many accessory spots in deniaiue.

To be sure of his identification of these two species, however, the biologist

counts the gill rakers and fin rays. .

All flounders have flat, compressed bodies and a peculiar habit of lying

on their sides. They are not born with this habit but acquire it early in

life. Several amazing structural changes accompany the transformation,

most important of which is the fact that the eye on the under side moves

across the forehead and comes to lie beside the other on the uppermost

side of the fish. In this way the flounder is saved the inconvenience of

continuously looking into the mud with one eye. Some flounders

habitually lie on the left side, others on the right. The southern flounder,

for example, lies on its right side. Ordinarily, the under side becomes

uniformly light in color, the upper side uniformly dark.

Flounders are predatory and their diet consists in large part of other

fishes, although they also eat shrimps, crabs, and other aquatic animals,

Often they lie partly buried in the sand with only the eyes exposed.

Their air of sluggishness is most deceptive,however, for when a fish

passes by they dart up with surprising rapidity and seize it. People who

have kept flounders in laboratory tanks say that they will strike with

great force at a finger and 'can inflict a painful wound.

About Beaufort, N. C., Hildebrand and Cable (1930) found very

young flounders off Beaufort Inlet much more often than inside the

harbor, from which they inferred that most or all of the spawning takes

place at sea. The principal spawning season in that area seems to be

November and December. The young soon move into the inside waters,

where, like the adults, they live on or near the bottom.

Sharks as food are becoming a regularly occurring item in such United

States markets as can obtain a steady supply. Although they have a

long and honorable history of utilization in other countries, sharks had

been largely neglected by the American public as food until wartime'

shortages prompted a search for new sources of protein foods. A thriv-ing

fishery for sharks already existed-especially on the Pacific coast

and in North Carolina and Florida in the east-but only the vitamin-rich

livers and the hides were saved, while millions of pounds of meat

were being discarded at sea. The first experimental shipments of shark

meat were so well received that a brisk market has now grown up, and

the supply for consumers is limited only by the ability of fishermen to

catch and process the sharks. The meat is placed on the market chiefly

in the form of frozen steaks or fillets. The present heavy demand sug-gests

that shark meat will continue popular after the war, when formerly

plentiful foods have been restored to our tables.

The chief centers of shark fishing on the Atlantic coast are Morehead

City in North Carolina and Mayport, Salerno, Cortez, and Key West in

Florida. Many different species are taken-probably fifteen to twenty

-with the leopard, dusky, brown, sand, hammerhead, and nurse sharks

being among the most important. Gear used by Florida shark fishermen

resembles the long trawl lines stilI used to some extent in New England

for cod, except that chains are substituted for the lower part of the line

because of the sharp teeth and the strength of many of the sharks.

Sharks are classified by zoologists as fishes, but are distinguished from

the bony fishes by the fact that the skeleton is not ossified, by the

presence of a series of gill slits along the side of the head, and by other

CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

40

The eneral habits of sharks a~e

less co.nspiCUOl1sthanato}n~~~tf~f\l:ee~~rger, p~edatory bodnyfilslheksTt~~

very sImIlar to ose 0 b te mall fishes, an mo us '.

food consists largely ofhcra~s, ~~ s b~~k~ng shark, lives on the minute

f the largest of all s ar s, ie . th h its gills.

~urface life of the sea whi?h it stral:ost Y~~:y fishes in an interesting

Many kinds of sharks dlff~r from r These sharks produce eggs

ect-they bring forth theIr young a Ive'the difference being that the

~i~ well developed shel~ li~e t~th~ot~~:sinstead of first being ~xp~le~

eggs hatch within the bo Y 0 e 1 produces millions of egg~, t e s a~

However, while the cod, for edxampe, 0 young. This great dIfference m

may g-Ive "b'Irth. " to only a ozen or s

h crayfish or rock lobster, is a

Figure 21.-The spiny lobstert~F1;~;~a'bl:l:~r~~~~e~I:W:e:nd brown and studded with

handsome crustacean mott e

numerous spines.

t ',

\

12.7%3

FISH AND SHELLFISH 41

fertility is probably compensated in Nature's scheme by a higher sur-vival

rate. The young sharks, at birth, are of good size, active, and

obviously ready to take up an independent existence.

The spiny lobster of Florida, Panulirus argus, is not closely related to

the New England lobster, although people sometimes confuse the two.

One of the chief differences is the fact that the spiny lobster lacks the

giant claws that are a characteristic feature of the New England lobster

and provide a considerable quantity of choice meat. All the meat of

the spiny lobster comes from the flexible abdomen or "tail." The frozen

lobster tails, still encased in their shells of mottled green and brown, are

the common market form.

Present catches of the spiny lobster amount to slightly less than half

a million pounds, taken chiefly on the Florida Reef from Miami to Dry

Tortugas. Although this species occtlrs as far north as Beaufort, N. C.,

United States fishermen seldom take it outside the State of Florida.

The best fishing grounds are along the southern shores of the reefs and

keys. A related form is found on the Pacific coast, south of Point

Conception. .

The average market size of the Florida spiny lobster is about 9 to 10

inches, exclusive of the long antennae. The largest specimen of which

the Fish and Wildlife Service has authentic record measured over 17

inches and weighed 8 pounds.

Most of the catch is made at night in pots which the lobsters enter as

they crawl about to feed, for they are nocturnal prowlers. During the

day they lie hidden under rock ledges or among sponges, where they may

be detected in clear water by the protruding antennae. Coral reefs,

rocky bottoms, and other grounds which provide good cover are their

favorite haunts.

The hard-shell clam, Venus mercenaria, occurs along the shores of

the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts all the way from North Carolina to

Texas, but only the States of Florida and North Carolina have important

clam fisheries. Florida produces about 700,000 pounds and North

Carolina 500,000.

The southern hard-shell clam is the same species as the well known

quahog of New England and in the South is sometimes called the

"round clam" or "little neck clam." On the Gulf coast of Florida the

clams grow so much larger than along the South Atlantic coast that

they are considered a distinct sub-species, known as Venus mercenaria

mortoni. The shells of the Florida clams may be 5% to 6 inches long

and the clam may weigh several pounds.

Probably the largest clam bed in the United States occurs off the Gulf

coast of Florida, in the region of the Ten Thousand Islands. It is some

40 miles long and at its widest parts extends out into the Gulf a distance

of about 5 miles. The clams are distributed over about 150 square

miles of bottom, occurring, as might be expected, more thickly in some

places than in others.

In the Florida clam fishery two kinds of gear are used, both of which

apparently are unique in the United States. The bulk of the catch is

taken by a dredge, which in general appearance resembles a houseboat.

The digging apparatus picks up the clams on its curved teeth and de-posits

them on a moving wooden escalator or conveyor which, in turn,

carries the clams past two or three men who pick out the live clams.

Dead clams, shells, and debris are automatically discarded when the

conveyor passes under water again. The dredge is at one end of a 1,200

foot cable which is attached to an 800-pound anchor. It moves along

•.

CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

42 .

When a run is completed the cable IS

slowly by taking up the c~ble. kith the wind and tide. Each run

released and the dredge drifts l~:c thwradius of a circle, with the anchor

of the dredge follows a course 1 e e . .

at the center. mall boats are operated. Clam d1gger~ in

Besides the dredge, some s d be which bears four prongs of flex1b!e

these boats use a l?ng-handl~ t P\~ bottom repeatedly until a clam IS

steel. The probe. 1.Sthrusht mt

0 :res the clam between the prongs so

felt, then an addItIOnal t rus sec .

that it may be drawn out. . tl I m bed are operated in connectIon

All of the boats now workmt re ~i:e catch is processed. In Nor~h

with a local cannery, where t e .en perated but part of the catch in

Carolina another clam cannery IS 0 ,

that State is sold fresh. th ecie~-the small coquina clam-

Besides the hard clam, one o. e~ sihs and chowders, but the annual

is marketed in Florida for use m 1'0d

production is only about 15,000 po.un s'. t ken commerciallY in only

The bay scallop, Pecten ir;adw~sG~~f :oasts-in Carteret County,

two areas on the South Atlatntlt F1rida principally about Fort Myers,

N. C., and on the Gu~f coas 0 0 ,

Tampa and ApalachIcola. .d oduction is much the larger,

At the present time, the FI~t a P;ared with approximately 35,000

amounting to a?out 130,000 p~~n ui;t~~ of scallops now taken in North

in North Carolina. The sma q di a earance about ten years ago,

Carolina is the result of the stringe 1i:~hich th~ young scallops find

of a marine plant known aSne~h~~~~'grass was killed out by an unex-necessary

protectIO~. Whe ddenl over a wide area along the

plaine~ disease which struck l~ion i: the affected areas was VIrtually

AtlantIC coast, the s~allop pOPf . I dependence of the mollusk on the

wiped out, so close IS the eco og~:alt the scallop fishery of North Caro-sheltering

vegetatIOn. The bl?w fi S' in 1927 the catch was 835,000

lina is r~vealed in the followdn~ icl~~a~s does not grow south of Bogude

pounds; in 1940, 34,00~ poun s he Gulf coast fishery was not affecte .

Sound in North Carolma, hence j line due to other causes, probably

It has, however, shown some ec

economic. II have two shells-hence are called

Like oysters and clalI!s, sea o~derablY in their habits from these

"bivalves"-but they differ Con~l about actively by rapidly open~ng

sedentary relatives. Scallops .sw1m. x eHing a jet of water which

and closing the shells, the forclb~e clo~nYa~J muscle controls the shell

furnishes the mean~ of propu( sl:~times called the "eye") is the only

movements, and this muscle so E 1'0 eans eat the entire scallop, Just

Part of the scallop that IS eaten. utenP but Americans have not yet

as whole oys ters and clams are ea , I l,. b t the excellently flavored muse e.

learned to eat anyt ung u

FISH AND SHELLFISH 43

APPENDIX

The Nutritive Value of Fish and Shellfish

Most people eat fish because they enjoy their varied flavors and their

adaptability to many different methods of preparation. There are

further benefits from eating aquatic food, however, for fish are good

natural sources of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and copper, and provide

protein of unexcelled quality. Some species also furnish vitamins in

appreciable quantities and sea fish are rich in iodine.

Fish are an important source of proteins, a type of food which must

be included in the diet to provide the elements needed to grow and

repair worn-out body tissues. Some proteins are complete in that they

supply all of the elements needed; others are incomplete and must be

supplemented with other protein foods if the body is to remain in normal

health. Fish proteins, like those in beef, pork, and other meats, are

complete.in themselves and proteins of this type should supply about

one-third of the daily protein requirement.

Fish are an excellent source of most of the minerals which the body

needs to develop properly and perform its functions. Calcium and

phosphorus (without which proper development of bones and teeth is

impossible) occur in fish fillets in about the same quantities as in beef

round. Marine fishes are especially rich sources of iodine, containing

50 to 200 times as much of, this essential element as any other food.

Oysters, shrimp, and crabmeat, compared with milk, provide half as

much calcium, five times as much magnesium, and slightly more phos-phorus.

Iron and copper, which build up the hemoglobin content of

the blood and prevent or remedy nutritional anemia, are easily obtained

by eating most fish. Oysters and shrimp are the best known sources of

these two minerals.

Although fish-liver oils have long been recognized as first-class sources

of vitamins A and D, it is less widely known that the flesh of fish is also

a source of several vitamins. On the average, daily vitamin require-ments

could be obtained from ordinary serving portions of fish to the

following extent: vitamin A, 10 percent; vitamin D, more than adequate

amounts; thiamin (vitamin B,), 15 percent; riboflavin (vitamin B2), and

nicotinic acid (another element of the vitamin B complex), 70 percent.

\

\

General Guides for Selecting and Preparing Fish

How to buy.-Insist upon freshness. A fresh fish may be recognized

by the following: firm and elastic flesh, scales that cling to the skin in

most species, reddish gills free from disagreeable odor, eyes bright and

full, not sunken. In selecting shellfish like clams and oysters, be sure

that the shells are tightly shut, indicating that the animals are alive,

unless you prefer to buy the meat separately as shucked shellfish. Crabs

and lobsters should be bought alive or as cooked meat. However, un-cooked

shrimp may be bought in the shell provided it feels firm to the

touch. Cooked shrimp is sold either with or without the shell,with the

heads already removed.

When to buy.-In general, the fish of any species are of highest food

quality when most abundant, for at these periods fishermen are making

their catches in the shortest time and shipping them promptly. Usually,

but not always, fish are cheapest when most abundant.

Common market forms.-Fresh (refrigerated) fish and completely

frozen fish should be equally good if the freezing is done by the modern

44 CONSERVATION BULLETIN 37

methods now well known to the industry. Both are marketed in a

variety of convenient forms, as follows:

Whole or round fish are those marketed in the form in which they

come from the water, and are of three kinds: .fish that keep as well or

better without dressing, small fishes, or the small sizes of larger species.

Before cooking, whole or round fish are eviscerated, and in all but the

very small sizes, the heads, scales, and sometimes the fins are removed.

Drawn fish are those marketed with only the entrails removed. To

prepare these fish for cooking, the heads, scales, and (if desired) the

fins are removed, and the fish may be split or cut into serving portions

if too large to be cooked whole,

Dressed fish have had the head and entrails removed and the tail and

fins may be cut off. If dressed fish are large, they may be cut into pieces

in preparation for cooking. Very large dressed fish are sometimes

marketed in pieces ..

Steaks are slices (usually about half an inch thick) cut across a large

dressed fish.

Fillets are meaty slices cut lengthwise from the sides of the fish.

Fillets contain no bones or other waste. Their weight varies with the

size of the fish from which they are cut.

Stocks are crosswise or lengthwise cuts of fillets.

Canned fish.-Besides the universally familiar canned salmon, tuna,

and sardines, many kinds of fish are canned for use in main dishes,

salads, and appetizers. For the duration of the war, however, the

amount of canned fish available for civilians will be considerably less

than normal.

Salt or Smoked fish.-Tasty variations in the menu are provided by

salt or smoked fish. Salt fish ordinarily requires one-half to several

hours' soaking before further preparation: while smoked fish usually is

ready to eat as it is, or may be heated.

Fat content of fish.-For best results in preparing a fresh fish, it is

always desirable to know whether it is fat or lean. Fat fish are especially

suitable for baking, and may also be broiled, while lean fish are best

adapted to steaming, boiling, and frying. Medium-fat fish are prepared

like the lean, or may be dressed with strips of salt pork or bacon and

baked. Most cook' books classify fish as follows:

Fat fish are those containing more than 5 percent fat. Examples are

mullet, Spanish mackerel, and pompano.

Lean fish are those containing less than 5 percent fat. Examples are

red snapper, sea trout, and groupers.

Sauces and garnishes.-The attractiveness of almost any dish con-sisting

of fish will be increased greatly by the use of sauces that subtly

enhance or complement the flavor. Any good cook book contains ex-cellent

suggestions as to the choice and preparation of such sauces."

Fresh and colorful garnishes also do much to create a dish as pleasing to

the eye as to the palate, thereby whetting the appetite and helping to

make the serving of fish a pleasurable and often repeated experience.

2 Sauces for seafoods. Fishery Leaflet 53. Mimeographed." pages, may be obtained on request

from the Fish and Wlldllfe Service, Chicago 54, IlL

l!'ISH AND SHELLFISH 45

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BREDER, C~ARLESM., JR. Field book of marine fishes of the Atlantic coast 332

pp., illus., 1929. .

CARSONR,.ACHELL. ~ood from the sea: Fish and shellfish of New England U '

FIsh and WIldhfe S~rvlc~ Conservation Bulletin No. 33. 74 D. iIlu~ 19 S.

CHURCHILL.E, . P., JR. LIfe history of the blue crab. Bulletin J\3 B ., 43£

Fisheries, Vol. XXXVI, pr., 91-128, iIlus., 1917-18. ,.. ureau 0

--The oyster and the oyster industry of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts A di

G VIII, Report, U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1919. 51 pp .ill ppef9;t

ALTSOFFP,AULS., and R. H.. LYCE. Oyster investigations in Georgj~ ;.S., di

G

VG'RBeport,U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1930 pp 61-100' ill ppe1n9311x

OOD'SEt 't ROSWNant d Mas~sociates . Tlre fisheerriies and fishery ,i.ndustries o,futsh.,e United.

aGOOD,E.G B~ow~a. A Is.cellanfieohuDsocument. 184, 5 sections, 7 vols., iIlus. 1887. men can s es. 562 pp illus Boston 1903 '

OWANLOCJHA,MESN. ELSON. Fishes and fishing in"Louisian'a B~ll N

IiA of Conservation, State of Louisiana 638 pp. illus 1933 . o. 23, Dept.

RRIgSaOti1NoRnaOlGREeRWpo.rt TNhoe m1en