458 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



began merchandising fish in a new form, known as fillets, which are 

 the edible portion only of the fish. Merchandising fillets has provided 

 an incentive to fishermen to bring in fresh fish, so that of late years 

 the landings of fresh fish at these ports have been miprecedented 



In the preparation of fillets, fresh haddock are used mainly. The 

 landings of this species fresh amoimted to about 34,000,000 pounds 

 in 1893, or about equal the amount of salt cod landed in that year; 

 and though fluctuating, landings of fresh haddock have increased 

 steadily until in 1927 they amounted to over 128,000,000 pounds. 

 While landings of fresh cod have not increased as tremendously as 

 fresh haddock, nevertheless they have grown from about 20,000,000 

 pounds in 1893 to over 61,000,000 pounds in 1927. Fresh cod are 

 used to some extent for filleting purposes. 



During the period 1893 to 1927, the landings of hake and cusk 

 decreased considerably and those of pollock somewhat. The landings 

 of halibut have fluctuated, being smallest in 1917, 1918, and 1919. 

 The amount landed in 1927 was a little over half as great as in 1893. 

 Landings Gi fresh and salt mackerel have fluctuated widely from year 

 to year, the amounts landed in 1926 and 1927 being larger than in 

 any previous year under discussion. Landings of fresh and salt 

 herring have varied greath^, also, while landings of swordfish have 

 remained fairly constant from year to year. A notable increase was 

 recorded in the landings of fresh flounders. Statistics are available 

 on this species only since 1913. In that year 400,000 pounds were 

 landed, whereas in 1927 over 8,000,000 pounds were brought in. 



Comparison between landings at various ports reveals that the 

 greatest increase occurred at Boston. At this port, the landings of 

 fresh fish increased, with little fluctuation, from about 66,000,000 

 pounds in 1893 to about 195,000,000 pounds in 1927, but those of 

 salt fish have been almost negligible. At Gloucester it appears that 

 while the landings of fresh fish have fluctuated somewhat in amount, 

 those of salt fish have decreased tremendously. In 1893, fresh fish 

 landed at Gloucester amounted to over 29,000,000 pounds, reached 

 a peak of 68,000,000 pounds in 1905, and then settled back to a little 

 over 46,000,000 pounds in 1927. On the other hand, landings of 

 salt fish at this port, which m 1893 amounted to over 45,000,000 

 pounds, reached a peak of 52,000,000 pounds in 1901 and have 

 since decreased to about 6,500,000 pounds in 1927. Statistics on 

 the landings of fish at Portland are available from 1916 to 1927 and 

 show that landings of fish during this period remained fairly constant, 

 those of salt fish being inconsiderable. In 1916, the landings of 

 fresh fish at this port were about 20,500,000 pounds and in 1927 they 

 were a little over 16,000,000 pounds. 



