STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



409 



oyster and clam. Virginia and North Carolina have a relatively large catch of this 

 fish, the quantity taken in each being between one and two million pounds. 



The hluefish catch of the United States. 



The catch by different forms of apparatus. — In the accompanying table the quan- 

 tity and value of the products resulting from the use of the different kinds of apparatus 

 are shown for each State, the catch with each of the following forms being separately 

 given, viz, (1) purse seines; (2) haul and other seines; (3) gill nets and trammel nets; 

 (4) pound nets, trap nets, and weirs; (5) fyke nets and pots; (6) lines; and (7) dredges, 

 tongs, and rakes. 



Excluding the oysters, clams, and other mollusks, taken with dredges, tongs, 

 etc., the value of which, $18,269,465, is much greater than the yield of any other class 

 of appliances, it appears that lines are the most important form of apparatus employed 

 in the capture of fish proper. While the quantity of fish thus obtained is less than 

 with purse seines, the value of the catch is much greater, being about $7,220,000. 

 Gill nets and trammel nets rank second in value of yield, which is about $4,888,000. 

 Haul seines take products worth nearly as much as those obtained with gill nets, viz, 

 $4,061,000. Pound nets, trap nets, and weirs have an output valued at $3,412,000. 

 Fyke nets and the closely related pots rank next in the value of the catch, which is 

 worth about $1,504,000. Closely following are purse seines, whose yield is valued at 

 $1,409,000. 



The States in which the purse seine is most valuable as a productive agent are 

 Massachusetts, where it is employed in the capture of mackerel, and New York, where 

 the fishery is for menhaden. The haul seine is far more important in Alaska than 

 elsewhere, salmon being the principal object of fishery. The State holding the next 

 position as regards the extent of its haul-seine fishery is North Carolina, where large 

 quantities of shad and alewives are thus taken. The gill net is also more productive 

 in the salmon fishery of Alaska than elsewhere, and is next important in the shad 

 fishery of New Jersey. The use of the pound-net type of apparatus is most important 

 in Virginia and Michigan. Maine and Massachusetts lead in the value of their com- 

 bined fyke and pot fisheries, the lobster constituting the principal object taken. The 

 value of the fyke catch alone is greatest in New York. The results of line fishing are far 

 greater in Massachusetts than in all other States taken together; lines, in this State, 

 are more prominent than any other form of apparatus in any other State except 

 dredges and tongs in the oyster fishery of Maryland. Maine follows Massachusetts 

 in the value of its line fishing. 



