Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-22
CARIBBEAN FISHING
WORK NOT WELL REWARDED
CLEARNEsS OF THE WATER.
Rollicking Boats Used by the Fisher
men of the West
Indies

rTom III" New 1ork Tribune.
The fishermen of the Caribbean Islands
have a hard time making living. The
water of that wonderful tropical is
deep and beautifully blue. but there are
some reefs of coral around the islands, and
in the northern and northeastern portions
there are extensive shoals, called banks.
One of the most remarkable of these is
west and southwest of the Island of Saba,
and is called the Saba bank. The coral is
so white and the water is so clear over this
great fishing ground that the sailors of
olden times were scared when they saw the
bottom from the decks of their ships and
thought they were going aground. When
the sounding line was paid out. however,
they were amazed to learn that 1t was
from eight to fifteen fathoms from the sur
face to the rocks so plainly seen.
Now the official sailing directions of the
United States navy state that, notwith-
standing the fact that the bottom is SO cas-
lily seen, it is safe for the largest ships to
cross this shoal Near the islands of An
tigua, Anguilla, ST Martins and Sombrero
there are also extensive shoals, and there
are good fishing banks southwestward from
ST. Croix ap' southeastward from Porto
Rico.
Smacks of the Antilles.
The fishermen Of the West Indies go to
sea in sailing vessels or smacks very much
like those of the Fulton market fishermen.
but the small boats they carry are inferior
to the dories of the New York ships. They
are round bottomed, cofffn-shaped affairs
that manifest a strong disposition to turn
bottomside up. 1t takes considerable skill
In balancing to manage one of these boats
even In smooth water. How they live in
choppy is one of the Caribbean mys-
teries. The fishermen of the Antilles. how
ever. are evidently in the secret, for they
ride the waves in these rollicking and I'M
stable boats as safely and as gracefully as
the American fisherman is rocked in his
dory.
The Goldfish, hake and haddock never visit
those far southern waters. They want a
smack of frost in their element. which is
not to be had south of the gulf stream
The lazy sea bass stays north of Cuba and
San Domingo. He thrives in the gulf of
Mexico. but he wants none of the Carib-
bean sea. Even the nimbe bluefish, which
comes north only in warm weather, never
goes south far as the Anagada. Virgin
and Mona passages. The place, with his
belly on side and both eyes on the
other as bright New York boy once put
it, is not to be found south of the tropic of
Cancer, and. even the mullet, which is so
plentiful in the gulf of Mexico that acres
of them are often seen lying with the heads
of one tier overlapping the tails of another,
never Strays below Porto Rico.
Flying Fish.
The most plentiful surface fish in the
Caribbean sea is the flying fish, of which
there are several varieties. Every ship that
passes scares up great schools of these spry
little fellows, which can fly fifty to one hum
dred yards as swiftly and as gracefully as
a bird This fish is considered great deli
cacy throughout the Caribbean Islands.
The method of catching it is unique. The
waters are baited with fishheads and fish
that are not edible. ground fine like the
"chum of our buefishermen. When the
water is alive with flying fish feeding on
this 'chum,' the fishermen cast large cir
Cular nets with heavy lead sinkers around
the edge so they spread out fiat on the
water. There is a draw string, and when
the sinkers have carried the edge of the net
three four feet below the surface. a
smart pun closes il like a bag ana it is
hauled in and emptied While the method
is the same that of catching mullet on
the west coast of Florida, the catch is
never SO large.
The staple fish of these tropical waters is
the redsnapper. Whether the bill of fare in
a West Indian hotel offers fish, fresh fish,
redsnapper or merely snapper. makes no
difference. Redsnapper is what is served
when the order goes to the kitchen. This
really excellent fish is caught With the hook
on coral reefs or banks. 1t is for him that
the fisherman braves wind and weather He
is the Goldfish of the Caribbean. but be can
not be cured, and must be eaten fresh.