Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/548

528 times laws have been enacted to encourage the business. In 1861 the culture of fish was declared free throughout the republic, and in 1872 a regulation was issued, making it free for all citizens of the republic to engage in fishing, and also in diving for pearls, and generally to take part in all marine business in Mexican waters. Mexican vessels occupied in the business were exempted from all taxation. Foreign bottoms, upon payment of tonnage dues, were to be granted temporary licenses of six months to fish in Mexican waters, and to establish drying and salting houses on shore. The crew of any one vessel never to exceed twenty-five. Other clauses in the law were for the preservation of order and the prevention of smuggling.

The different species of fish in Mexican waters, both fresh and salt, are very numerous. The industry was, on the sea, pursued mostly by men enrolled in the marine list; in the rivers, lakes, and lagoons, by Indians. It was estimated about 1860 that the business produced yearly two and three quarters million dollars, more or less, only for food-fishes. The shrimps taken in Acaponeta, Escuinapa, El Rosario, and Camaronera of Vera Cruz in October, November, and December, some 8,000 loads, are worth in the interior $480,000.

The pearl fisheries have been from the earliest times of the Spanish occupation a source of profit to the government and the people dwelling on the Pacific coasts of Mexico. In 1811 the Spanish government permitted the colonists to engage in diving for pearls. In the first quarter of this century an English lieutenant named Hardy made an unsuccessful attempt to fish pearl-oysters with diving-bells.

Pearls as well as tortoise shells are obtained at several places near Manzanillo; the coast of Petatlan, in Guerrero, is famous for its many banks of