158 



KErORT OF COMMISSIONER OP^ FISH AND FISHERIES. 



YIELD AND VALUE OF LOBSTERS IN VARIOUS YEARS. 



The following table showing the yield and value of the lobster fish- 

 ery in former yeai'S is compiled from the reports of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission, and shows the jdeld and value of lobsters in each of the 

 lobster-producing States on the Atlantic coast in all years for Avhich 

 the fishery has been investigated from 1880 to 1898. No lobsters were 

 reported for Delaware in 1880, but, with this exception, the omission 

 of statistics for any of the States in any of the years enumerated is due 

 to the fishery not being canvassed. The total yield of lobsters for all 

 the States in 1880 was 20,128,033 pounds, value $483,891; in 1887, 

 28,882,180 pounds, value $799,717; in 1888, 28,108,970 pounds, value 

 $836,617, and in 1889, 30,771,573 pounds, value $861,297. Complete 

 totals can not be shown for other years because the fishery was not 

 investigated in all the States. The total yield in 1892, omitting New 

 York, was 23,559,132 pounds, value $1,016,647; and in 1898, omitting 

 Delaware, it was 15,118,062 pounds, value $1,318,299. 

 Yield and value of the lobster fishery informer years. 



NOTES ON THE LONDON FUR-SEAL TRADE. 



While en route to The Hague, where he was detailed in connection 

 with the arbitration of whaling and sealing claims against Russia, INIr. 

 Townsend made inquiries in London respecting the trade in fur-seal 

 skins, which has long been centered there. 



The prices of fur-seal skins have been subject to considerable fluc- 

 tuation for several years, owing to the cft'ect of pelagic scaling in 

 Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean on the sealing industries of 

 the Pribilof and Commander islands. Frequentl}^ the majorit}^ of the 

 seal skins on the market has consisted of the low-grade skins yielded 

 by the pelagic fisheries. 



