32 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



per cent of the value of the fishery products landed during the year. 

 The herring were taken from the treaty coasts of Newfoundland and 

 the cod, haddock, hake, halibut, and other species from that region 

 were obtained from fishing banks on the high seas. All fish caught 

 by American fishing vessels off the coast of the Canadian Provinces 

 were from offshore fishing grounds. 



Haddock ranked first in the New England vessel fisheries in 1920, 

 with a catch of 75,279,477 pounds, valued at $2,740,052. The yield 

 of cod was 62,265,582 pounds, valued at $2,637,637. There was un- 

 usual activity in the halibut fishery during the year. The catch of 

 3,789,330 pounds, valued at $741,821, was the largest in five years. 

 There was a large increase in the receipts of halibut at Portland, 

 the catch in 1920 amounting to 1,159,973 pounds, the next largest in 

 the past five years being 535,314 pounds in 1916. There has also been 

 a noteworthy increase in the receipts of halibut at Boston in recent 

 years but a decrease at Gloucester. The output of pollock was the 

 smallest in many years, amounting to only 8,560,901 pounds, valued 

 at $262,128, as compared with 18,751,967 pounds, valued at $380,515, 

 in 1919, and 26,560,620 pounds, valued at $962,085, in 1918. The 

 hake product amounted to 4,721,356 pounds, valued at $153,876, an 

 increase of 381,880 pounds but a decrease of $27,177, as compared 

 with the previous j^^ear. The yield of this species has been compara- 

 tively small in recent years. The catch of other fish was as follows : 

 Cusk, 1,854,739 pounds, valued at $48,070; swordfish, 2,531,669 

 pounds, valued at $494,202; flounders, 3,637,774 pounds, valued at 

 $166,895; and herring, 6,997,984 pounds, valued at $166,301. The 

 herring output included 3,900,960 pounds, valued at $56,144, taken 

 off the coast of the United States and landed fresh, and^ 3,097,024 

 pounds of salted Newfoundland herring, valued at $110,157. 



The mackerel fishery in 1920 yielded 79,799 barrels of fresh fish, 

 comparecl with 53,992'^barrels in 1919, and 4,897 barrels of salt fish, 

 compared with 7,007 barrels in 1919. The value of the catch was 

 $671,310 for the fresh fish and $91,784 for the salt fish, an increase 

 of $215,852 over the previous year. In 1921 the total yield of mack- 

 erel up to July 1 was 33,632 barrels fresh and 3.143 barrels salted, 

 compared with 60,842 barrels of fresh and 3,357 barrels salted for 

 the same period in 1920. In the southern mackerel fishery the purse- 

 seine vessels had a jjoor season and the gill-net vessels had only fair 

 success. The weather most of the time was unfavorable for fishing. 

 The seiners reported seeing more fish in the South than for many 

 years. The weather was good on the Cape Shore, and this fishery was 

 comparatively successful, three vessels making second trips. The 

 fish were caught mostly at night and in small schools. The fish 

 averaged large, and the fresh sold from 6.60 to 16 cents per pound 

 and tile salted from $12 to $13.50 per barrel. 



\TESSEL FISHERIES AT SEATl'I.E, W^VSII. 



The fishing fleet at Seattle, Wash., during the year 1920 brought 

 in 822 fares, consisting of 14,355,450 pounds of fish, having a value 

 to the fishermen of $1,992,759, from the fishing grounds along the 

 coast from Oregon to Alaska. The largest quantities were taken 

 from Flatterv Banks, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, and in 



