38 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



approximately 400,000,000 pounds of mussels. In 

 the United States, only one State, New Jersey, pro- 

 duces many mussels. In 1921, 791,000 pounds of 

 this shell-fish were taken in that State ; most of these 

 were sold in New York City. A few mussels were 

 canned. 



Small quantities of many other marine mollusks 

 are utilized commercially in America. Chief among 

 these are the following: natica, cockle, periwinkle, 

 piddock, squid, donax, cephalopods, and chiton. The 

 most important of these is the squid, a most curious 

 shell-fish belonging to the devil-fish famil3^ In China 

 and many other countries of the Orient, this moUusk 

 is a favorite marine delicacy. In America it is used 

 chiefly as bait by many of the trawl and hand-line 

 fishermen of New England, eastern Canada, and 

 Newfoundland, but it is now eaten by our Oriental 

 population. Some squid is canned in California. 



Although our lobster and crab fisheries are 

 declining, they are still of considerable importance. 

 Formerly lobsters were exceedingly plentiful all 

 along the coast of New England, but in recent years 

 the American lobster has been over-fished, until 

 to-day our fishery is entirely overshadowed by the 

 Canadian fishery. Now the Canadian fishery is 

 threatened by over-fishing. The open season is now 

 very short, yet Canada still produces many more 

 lobsters than all the rest of the world. 



Crabs are caught all along our coasts and are 

 now considered a delicacy by most connoisseurs of 

 sea-food. Until 1873, crabs were seldom eaten. In 



