REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP PISHERIES XIII 



Compared with 1918, the next previous canvass, there was an in- 

 crease in the number of persons employed, of 1,252, or 8.32 per cent, 

 and an increase in the investment of $1,081,252, or 14.56 per cent. 

 There was a decrease in the products of 103,866,193 pounds, or 31.23 

 per cent, in quantity and $261,276, or 4.88 per cent, in vakie. Prac- 

 tically all of the decrease may be attributed to a smaller catch of 

 menhaden, which amounted to only 148,180,970 pounds in 1923 as 

 compared with 257,757,799 pounds in 1918. There was also a large 

 decrease in the catch of alewives, cero and kingfish, red and black 

 drum, mullet, and Spanish mackerel, but an increase in the yield of 

 shad, squeteagues or " sea trout,"' shrimp, and oysters. 



FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST STATES IN 19 2 2 



The statistics of the fisheries of the Pacific Coast States for the 

 calendar year 1922 Avere obtained from a canvass made during the 

 year 1923, but due to the limited clerical force tabulations were not 

 completed until the latter part of the fiscal year 1925. A summary 

 statement has been published as Statistical Bulletin No. 647. 



The statistics show that the Pacific Coast States, with their valu- 

 able salmon, halibut, tuna, and sardine fisheries, constitute one of 

 our most important fishery sections. In 1922 there were 22,270 

 persons engaged in fishing and fishery industries; 698 vessels fishing 

 and transporting fish; 4,173 power boats and 1,041 sail and row 

 boats fishing; $28,651,490 investment in vessels, boats, gear, and 

 shore property connected with the fisheries; and a production of 

 282,968,421 pounds of fish, shellfish, and whale products, valued at 

 $12,983,583 to the fishermen. Judging from the value of the prod- 

 ucts to the fishermen, the salmon fishery, which is prosecuted on the 

 coast and rivers from Monterey, Calif., to Seattle, Wash., was the 

 most important of the Pacific coast fisheries, producing 62,685,475 

 pounds, valued at $3,768,988. Next in importance was the halibut 

 fishery, prosecuted principally from the port of Seattle, which in 

 1922 produced 18,706,517 pounds, valued at $1,925,482. Third in im- 

 portance was the tuna fishery of California, which produced 36,900,- 

 805 pounds of albacore, tuna, bonito, and skipjack, valued at 

 $1,847,567. _ 



The statistics for 1922, compared with those available for former 

 years, strikingly reveal the changes taking place in the Pacific coast 

 fisheries. With the development during the last decade of the tuna 

 and sardine fisheries, California has forged ahead to the leading 

 place among the Pacific Coast States. The number of persons 

 engaged in her fisheries increased from 4,129 in 1908 to 8,452 in 1915 

 and 9,173 in 1922. The investment increased from $1,659,000 in 

 1908 to $5,824,263 in 1915 and to $13,047,414 in 1922. The value of 

 her products increased from $1,970,000 in 1908 to $2,506,702 in 1915 

 and to $6,773,981 in 1922. 



Washington, having passed the peak of her development in the 

 salmon and halibut fisheries, took second place on the Pacific coast 

 in 1922. The number of persons engaged in the fisheries dropped 

 from 14,645 in 1915 to 7,600 in 1922 ; the investment in fisheries and 

 fishery industries dropped from $14,129,553 to $10,711,500; and her 

 production from $5,320,725 to $4,953,913. 



The fisheries of Oregon in 1922 employed 5,497 persons ; the invest- 

 ment amounted to $4,892,576 and the product totaled 22,371,764 



