428 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



men cannot be separately identified for the different fisheries. Table 25 

 exhibits the quantities, values, prices, etc., of all North Carolina food fish 

 only; in both summary tables the regularities that are monotonously ob- 

 served in the fishery statistics of the whole country and all its regions are 

 again observed here in North Carolina; i.e., the total production and values, 

 prices, number of fishermen, and their production and income per man 

 conform to the pulse of the business cycle — post-World War I, low; 1927- 

 1929, high; 1932, low; 1936-1937, high, and over-all upward trend of the 

 fishermen's income, subject to the cyclic influences. Here, as elsewhere, it 

 is to be noted that real income did not diminish as much as apparent income 

 in the depression year of 1932. For the over-all comparison of the early 

 period (1887-1908) with the late (1921-1940), see Tables 17 and 18, 

 wherein it appears that the improvement of the average dollar value, actual 

 and relative, in the later over the earlier period was somewhat less than 

 that for the Atlantic-Gulf regions or for the whole country; and that 

 quantity of production per man greatly increased mainly by reason of the 

 rising menhaden fishery. 



In food fish, however, the State did not increase its production in the 

 later over the earlier period; in fact, its average production was 2.7 per cent 

 less from 192 1 to 1940 than it had been from 1887 to 1908;^ the increase 

 of 29 per cent in price and 25.8 per cent in actual dollars was not enough 

 to make up for the inflation of money that occurred, so that the buying 

 power of the proceeds of primary sale of all the food fish produced by the 

 State as an annual average from 192 1 to 1940 was 21 per cent less than it 

 had been for the average of 1887-1908; even when menhaden is included 

 in both periods, the annual average buying power of fish production for 

 the average of all commodities was less by 3 per cent in the period 192 1- 

 1940 than it had been from 1887 to 1908 (Table 17). The development 

 of the menhaden industry, principally in the late period, in its entirety was 

 not enough to compensate the fish industry of the State for the inflation of 

 money in the absence of any increase in the volume of food fish production. 

 If the new expenses were deducted for marine engines, fuel, and lubricants, 

 which replaced sail, it is likely that the fisheries would be worth very 

 decidedly less in net money value to the State than they were fifty years 

 ago. 



This fact does not speak well for the North Carolina fisheries when con- 

 sidered in connection with the 155 per cent increase in population of the 

 State from 1,400,000 in 1880 to 3,572,000 in 1940; the increase in ratio of 

 urban to rural population and the development of a superb network of 

 roads over which distribution of fish over the entire State could be effected. 



2. Based on the averages of the two series after the vacant years in each have been filled in by 

 interpolation (Table 18). 



