FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1922. 5 



diiction of fish (that is, fish landed) at Seattle amounted to 45,246,000 

 pounds. Of fresh and frozen fish, 29,778,000 pounds were shipped to 

 points in the United States and foreign countries. Part of this was in 

 less-than-carload shipments, but 635 full carloads went forward from 

 Seattle in 1921, 78.5 per cent of which went to seven cities — Chicago, 

 New York, Kansas City, Boston, Omaha, St. Louis, and Buffalo. 

 Fish were frozen in Seattle in 1921 to the extent of 12,025,501 pounds. 

 Thirteen carloads of oysters were received into Seattle from eastern 

 points. 



Boston, with a population of 748,060, is the principal landing port 

 for the fisheries of the North Atlantic. It is also the greatest fishing 

 port in the United States and is one of the world's fishing 

 ports. More than 80 per cent of its fishing business, on the 

 basis of quantity, is in cod, haddock, halibut, mackerel, sword- 

 fish, and lobsters, a very different group of fish from those 

 prominent in Seattle. A moderate or limited business is also done in 

 alewives, butterfish, carp, flounders, salmon, smelts, suckers, clams, 

 crabs, oysters, and some 54 other species. In Boston there were 108 

 wholesale fish dealers and 171 retailers, there being 1 retailer for each 

 6,926 people. The production or landings of fish in the year ended 

 September 30, 1922, was 101,949,725 pounds, valued at $4,051,350. 

 In the month of September, 1922, the following products were landed 

 at Boston: Fish, 13,244,074 pounds; lobsters, 616,355 pounds; 

 clams, 338,964 pounds; oysters, 10,068 gallons or 80,554 pounds; 

 scallops 478 gallons or 3,824 pounds. The amount of fish frozen dur- 

 ing 1922 was 8,946,183 pounds, and the amount distributed from 

 Boston during September, 1922, was 11,056,709 pounds. In the month 

 of September, 56 per cent of all Boston's fish was consumed in Massachu- 

 setts; and in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 

 and Pennsylvania, 89 per cent of Boston's fish was consumed. Boston 

 is thus unlike Seattle in this respect, where the great bulk of ship- 

 ments goes to distant cities. 



TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



As has been pointed out in previous reports of this division the 

 need for technological investigations is urgent. This fact is evident 

 both from the consumer's and the producer's standpoints. The 

 former may wonder why, when the fisherman spends no money to 

 raise his crop of fish, the price approaches that of meats produced 

 at much expense; the producer, on the other hand, readily recognizes 

 that the serious limits set upon his business by the perishable character 

 of his goods and by the large overhead expense prevent an economic 

 and profitable operation and an increase in the demand. 



Fish are about 50 per cent edible, the remaining 50 per cent being 

 heads, fins, viscera, etc. In the case of cattle and swine such waste is 

 kept and utilized at a considerable profit. There is little doubt that 

 similar use can be more extensively made of waste from fish, if proc- 

 esses are made available b}' technological research. It is also evident 

 to the producer of fish, if not to the consmner, that the great total 

 losses in transportation increase the price of fish without increasing 

 its value ; much of the loss resides in inferior quality after transpor- 

 tation, which stifles demand. The obvious remedy for this condition 

 is to devise methods of transportation of fish that will prevent both 



