ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 



299 



omission of others, such as property taxes, public debt, etc., but they prob- 

 ably reflect the over-all relative economic status of these counties. 



The average of all the ranks for each county is shown in the last column. 

 These averages are themselves ranked in Table 3. 



TABLE 3 



Comparative Welfare of Twenty-one Coastal Counties of North Carolina; 



Over-all and Average Rank in 14 Categories of Measurement and in 



Value of Fish Production 



, Value of fish 



Average of 1936-1940 

 Economic welfare inclusive 



This analysis indicates that the fisheries in their present state of develop- 

 ment serve to put Carteret and Dare counties near the top in rank in 

 economic welfare, and to lift Pamlico slightly from a place near the bottom 

 of the list. In commercial fisheries it appears that the counties with best 

 access to the source are Carteret, Pamlico, Brunswick, Dare, and Onslow, 

 while Pasquotank, Beaufort, and Craven are well situated as possible pri- 

 mary market centers. Considering both opportunity in geographical access 

 to the fisheries, and need of economic betterment, Brunswick, Hyde, Onslow, 

 and Pamlico call for especial effort to improve the fisheries. 



Conclusion. The coastal region may be considered a community of mild 



