128 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



England for salting and smoking and large quantities are also frozen 

 for use as bait. Haddock which is taken on the banks off the North 

 Atlantic seaboard, ranked fourth. This fish is the basis for the fresh 

 and frozen packaged fish trade. Oysters ranked fifth in importance. 

 These were taken commercially in nearly every sea-coast State. Those 

 taken in the more northern latitudes generally are marketed fresh, 

 while those taken in the Southern States are used principally for 

 canning. Mackerel was sixth in importance and was taken along 

 the North Atlantic coast and oft" the cost of California. Cod ranked 

 seventh and was taken mainly in the vessel fisheries prosecuted from 

 the New England ports. Cod is used largely for salting. Shrinip, 

 which was eighth in importance, is used chiefly in the canning in- 

 dustry in the Southern States. Crabs were ninth in importance and 



156 PBOOUtIS- 3.09;.86<.0fll POUNOi-IOOS 



FuiUHE 0.— Yield of edible fishery products taken in the United States 

 and Alaska, 1929 



were taken chiefly in the Chesapeake Bay region, where they con- 

 stituted one of the most important fisheries. Tuna and tunalike 

 fishes, which are taken off the coasts of California and Latin America, 

 were tenth in importance and form the basis for an important con- 

 ning industry in California. Flounders, which ranked eleventh in 

 importance, were taken in the marine fisheries of all sections. 



Among the species of moderate commercial importance were 24 

 products 'whose yield contributed 15 per cent to the catch in 1929. 

 Included in this group are some whose catch in previous years greatly 

 exceeded the present yield — shad and lobsters being outstanding 

 examples. 



The species of least importance consisted of approximately 120 

 products whose yield accounted for only 5 per cent of the total catch. 

 This group includes certain species wliich were at one time of con- 

 siderable importance, but usually they consititute products of limited 

 supply or inferior quality. 



