416 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



TABLE 21 



Oysters: Recapitulation * by Regions f and by Historical Periods of 



the Production, Values and Prices of Market Oysters 



(Exclusive of Seed) || 1887-1940 



Periods 



New 

 England 



Mid- 

 Atlantic 



Chesapeake 



South 

 Atlantic 



Gulf of 

 Mexico 



Total t 



Atlantic and 



Gulf 



Production of 

 Edible Meats t 



15,850 



Pounds ('000 omitted), annual average. 



1887-1899 

 igoo-1912 

 1920-1930 

 1931-1940 



II. Value 



1887-1899 

 1900-1912 

 1920-1930 

 1931-1940 



17,610 

 7,738 

 7,875 



1,686 

 2,122 



1,491 

 1,206 



30,890 

 30,640 

 26,020 

 15,080 



96,700 

 69,200 

 44,960 

 32,079 



7,200 



15,550 



7,070 



4,751 



Dollars ('000 omitted), annual average. 



3,920 

 3,970 

 4,590 

 2,037 



5,848 

 4,790 

 4,957 

 2,392 



304 

 596 

 410 

 213 



III. Relative Value § Dollars ('000 omitted), annual average. 



1887-1899 

 1 900-1902 

 1920-1930 

 1931-1940 



3,230 

 3,240 

 1,458 

 1,586 



7-570 

 6,360 

 4,490 

 2,680 



11,210 

 7,680 

 4,850 

 3,150 



582 

 956 

 401 

 280 



8,460 

 17,350 

 13,490 

 15-757 



752 

 1,313 

 1,501 



964 



1,440 

 2,100 

 1,468 

 1,267 



159,100 



150,400 



99,278 



75,542 



12,510 



12,791 



12,950 



6,812 



23,970 



20,500 



12,660 



8,960 



IV. 



Prices, actual 

 and relative § 



Act. 



Cents per pound, annual average. 



Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. Act. Rel. 



1887-1899 

 1900-1912 

 1920-1930 

 1931-1940 



10.6 

 12.0 

 19-3 

 15-3 



20.3 



19-3 

 18.9 

 20.1 



13-5 

 13.0 

 17.6 

 13-5 



25-8 

 20.7 



17-3 

 17.8 



6.0 

 6.9 



II.O 



7-5 



11.6 



II. I 



10.8 



9.8 



4.2 

 3-8 

 5-8 

 4.4 



8.1 

 6.2 

 5-7 

 5-8 



8.9 



7.6 



12.0 



6.1 



17.1 



12. 1 



II. 7 



8.1 



7-9 



8.5 



13.2 



9.0 



13.6 

 12.9 

 11.9 



* Each historical period is made into a continuous series by interpolating the years not can- 

 vassed; the averages are those of the actual canvasses and the interpolated figures. 



t Atlantic and Gulf coasts only, Pacific coast excluded. 



t Recovery of edible meats per bushel of oysters recalculated by Fish & Wildlife Service from 

 the statistical record (originally reported uniformly as 7 pounds per bushel), on the basis of 

 actual yield in the respective regions. 



§ Relative values and prices are in money of constant purchasing power in terms of the All- 

 Commodity Wholesale Price Index, 1926 = 100, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 



II Seed not consistently shown, and therefore not consistently excluded in the above table for 

 the years before 1902. 



in the oyster fishery; the behavior of the oyster trade is undoubtedly the 

 resultant of the interaction and cooperation of many factors concerning 

 w^hich we have little factual data. It has already been noted that the increases 

 in United States fishery production have, occurred chiefly in the mass 

 production, mechanized fisheries. The mollusk fisheries have depended on 

 extensive use of human labor to dig, dredge, or tong the product from the 



