ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 371 



and value of fish as compared with the amount and value of agricultural 

 produce, plant and animal; (6) the small contribution made to the dietary 

 (about one per cent of either the gross bulk or the food energy in the United 

 States); (7) for the United States, the number of fishermen and their 

 families who are provided livelihood by the fisheries compared to the actual 

 farm population. 



When these comparisons are made, the production of fish, and the draft 

 made upon the waters by the fisheries everywhere, and especially in the 

 United States, appear to be trifling, and the question urges itself upon us, are 

 the fisheries really capable of yielding only so little as this, and that little 

 half herrings? If, at the present level of exploitation, our main concern must 

 be that even this little may be too much for safety, then the fisheries cannot 

 be looked upon as a major source of subsistence for man as a whole, and is 

 of considerable importance in only a few limited spots. 



These comparisons carry the implication that the extent and danger of 

 exploitation at present practiced possibly may not be the main problem of 

 the fisheries, since depletion has not seriously and continuously occurred in 

 the fisheries of any region, and the implication also that the real and pressing 

 problem is to find ways and means of making greater and more effective use 

 of what the waters offer. The economic data to be found further in this 

 chapter seem to point to the same conclusion. 



THE UNITED STATES FISHERIES 



The total quantity, value, and prices of all fishery products and of food 

 fish of the United States fisheries, and the average numbers of fishermen 

 engaged therein, all considered broadly and historically, exhibit definite 

 characteristics and trends. In order to bring these into view, the historical 

 record of the fisheries of the whole country was examined and, after neces- 

 sary adjustments, the main data were arranged in tabular and graphic forms, 

 in which can be seen the working of the main determinants of the fisheries. 

 These general data will be presented first, and will be followed by a con- 

 sideration of the fisheries in some of their parts, sections, species, and other 

 details, wherein will be seen, at least in outline, the mechanism by which 

 these determinants operate. 



Procedure. The data used in this quantitative study, except where other- 

 wise specifically noted, are those of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service and 

 its predecessor Federal Government agencies. For purposes of field statistical 

 canvasses, the country has usually been divided by the Federal agency into 

 nine regions, as shown in the calendar and index of such canvasses in Table 



