FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1926 471 
MARYLAND 
The fisheries of Maryland in 1925 gave employment to 19,725 
persons, of whom 1,795 were on vessels fishing, 518 on vessels trans- 
porting fishery products, 9,320 in the shore or boat fisheries, and 
8,092 on shore in connection with the fisheries, in wholesale estab- 
lishments, canneries, and other fishery industries. 
The investment in the fisheries and fishery industries amounted to 
$8,053,239 and includes 391 motor and sail fishing vessels valued at 
$545,750, with a net tonnage of 4,423 tons and outfits valued at 
$151,430; 242 motor and sail transporting vessels valued at $659,900, 
with a net tonnage of 5,003 tons and outfits valued at $88,760; 
7,406 motor, sail, row, and other boats valued at $1,311,011; fishing 
apparatus employed on vessels, to the value of $37,156, and on boats, 
to the value of $503,609; and shore and accessory property valued 
at $133,975. Additional shore property employed in the wholesale 
fishery trade and other fishery industries amounted to $2,891,048 in 
value and cash capital to $1,730,600. 
The products of the fisheries amounted to 56,977,985 pounds, with 
a value to the fishermen of $4,863,419. The principal species, 
arranged in the order of their value, included oysters, 29,770,020 
pounds, or 4,252,860 bushels, valued at $3,256,272; crabs, 9,646,361 
pounds, or 28,939,083 in number, valued at $567,783; shad, 1,260,152 
pounds, valued at $264,388; striped bass, 1,413,999 pounds, valued 
at $240,388; squeteagues or ‘“‘sea trout,’’ 1,480,209 pounds, valued 
at $88,793; alewives, fresh, salted, and smoked, 7,700,914 pounds, 
valued at $84,284; and croaker, 2,602,861 pounds, valued at $63,326. 
Compared with 1920, there was a decrease of 1,658, or 7.75 per cent, 
in the number of persons employed in the fisheries and fishery indus- 
tries of Maryland but an increase of $486,805, or 6.43 per cent, in the 
investment. There was a decrease in the products of the fisheries 
of 2,552,810 pounds, or 4.29 per cent, in the quantity, with an in- 
crease of $664,751 or 15.83 per cent in the value. There was a 
small decrease in the value of the products of the canning and other 
fishery industries amounting to $10,100 or 0.58 per cent. 
Fisheries by apparatus.—The vessel fisheries of Maryland in 1925 
yielded 6,879,398 pounds of products, valued at $951,678, consisting 
principally of oysters, taken mostly with dredges. The yield of the 
shore or boat fisheries amounted to 50,098,587 pounds of products, 
valued at $3,911,741. The most productive forms of apparatus were 
tongs and rakes, with a catch of 22,084,416 pounds of oysters and 
clams, valued at $2,225,706; pound nets, with a catch of 12,519,118 
pounds of alewives, butterfish, catfish, croaker, shad, squeteagues, 
striped bass, white perch, and other species, valued at $478,697; 
lines, used chiefly in the crab fishery, 6,825,544 pounds, valued at 
$295,697; haul seines, 2,300,760 pounds, valued at $157,718, the more 
important species taken being alewives, carp, catfish, croaker, striped 
bass, and white perch; dip nets, 1,690,250 pounds, valued at $159,155, 
consisting chiefly of crabs; gill nets, 1,311,820 pounds, valued at 
$219,616, the more important species being shad, striped bass, and 
white perch; dredges, 1,264,851 pounds of oysters, valued at $169,293; 
and crab scrapes, 1,252,140 pounds of crabs, valued at $118,925. 
The products of the vessel fisheries and of the shore or boat fisheries 
are shown separately in the following tables: 
