396 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



average value is only one-fourth that of the other section. Seines are not prominent 

 in the Great Lakes; only 154 are there owned, and the investment in that form of 

 apparatus is only $17,23(3. The most important seine fisheries, as determined pri- 

 marily by the number of seines operated, are in North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, 

 New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, Delaware, and California, the first- 

 named State having nearly one-fourth of all the seines used in the United States. 



Nearly equal to seines in point of value are the band lines, trawl lines, and other 

 lines employed in fisheries of all sections. The New England States, with their enor- 

 mous ocean fisheries carried on chiefly with liues, would naturally be expected to lead 

 in this item, and it appears that of the $708,000 invested in this class of apparatus 

 the region iu question has $620,000. The other sections in their order of importance 

 are the Pacific, Middle Atlantic, Gulf, Great Lakes, and South Atlantic. 



The dredges, tongs, and rakes employed in the molluscan fisheries represeut an 

 outlay of $501,000, of which $477,000 is to be credited to the Middle Atlantic States, 

 the section having the most extensive oyster fishery. 



Ranking fourth in importance among the various classes of nets used in the fish- 

 eries of the country are the fykes, although their aggregate value is much less than 

 that of any of the forms of apparatus thus far specified. Over 24,000 fyke nets, whose 

 value is $222,000, are set in the coast and lake regions. The fykes are relatively 

 important only in the Middle Atlantic States, although in the Great Lakes and iu New 

 England rather extensive fisheries are in places thus carried on. In the region first 

 named over 20,000 fykes are used, having a value of $119,000. This appliance is 

 absent from the Gulf States, and is of little consequence in the South Atlantic and 

 Pacific States. 



The numerous other kinds of fishing apparatus not separately designated in the 

 accompanying table, and not so generally used as those specified, have a value of 

 about $505,000. Among these are pots, wheels, cast nets, spears, harpoons, and many 

 other minor appliances. The Pacific and New England States contain the great bulk 

 of this miscellaneous apparatus. 



The shore and accessory property connected with the fisheries and the related 

 shore industries represents a very large investment in every region, amounting in the 

 aggregate to over $16,000,000. This sum includes the value of fish houses, wharves, 

 fishing camps, and other buildings and structures necessary for the prosecution of the 

 business: fish cars, reels, live boxes, floats, etc. In the New England States the 

 investments in such property are larger than in auy other section, amounting to 

 $5,887,000. Closely following New England is the Middle Atlantic section, where the 

 shore and accessory property has a value of $5,816,000. On the Pacific coast $2,400,000 

 is thus invested, and in the Great Lakes region $1,635,000. The South Atlantic States 

 have $436,000 and the Gulf States $677,000 thus devoted to the fishing industry. 

 Four States have over $1,006,000 shore property directly connected with the fisheries; 

 these are Massachusetts with $3,098,000, Maryland with $2,446,000, New York with 

 $1,724,000, and Connecticut with $1,605,000. 



Properly included in the fishery investment is the cash capital, or working capital, 

 required to properly conduct the industry. This amounts in the aggregate to nearly 

 $16,000,000. corresponding closely with the capital represented by the shore property, 

 being greatest in the New England States and least in the South Atlantic States. 



