FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UXITED STATES. 5 



Fisheries of the New England States in 1919 — Continued. I'age. 



Fisheries of Rhode Island 172 



Fisheries by counties 174 



Fisheries by apparatus 176 



Wholesale fishery trade 180 



Fisheries of Connecticut 181 



Fisheries by counties 181 



Fisheries by apparatus ._ 184 



WTiolesale fishery trade and menhaden industry 187 



INTRODUCTION. 



During the period of the war the production and consumption of 

 fishery products were stimulated, receiving much encouragement 

 from governmental and other agencies as a war measure. Tliis 

 resulted in making provision for a considerable expansion of faciU- 

 ties for the capture, preservation, and marketing of fishery products, 

 the fulfillment of which extended into the postwar period. In this 

 readjustment period a heavy decline in the consumption ol" lisli not 

 only in the United States but in other countries has been apparent. 

 Added to this advancing prices of labor and materials, curtailment 

 in export trade, and other factors, such as labor didlculties, prockiced 

 in some respects one of the most (hflicult and threatening situations 

 in the history of the industry. Even in 1919, while provisions for 

 greater production were being fulfilled, the effects oi these condi- 

 tions were felt and the curtailment in production in certain of our 

 important fisheries as compared with ine previous year was quite 

 marked. For example, many of the large New England trawlers 

 were tied up for lack of markets. The catch of the vessel fisheries 

 centering at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., in 

 1919 decreased more than 9,000.000 pounds as compared with 1918 

 and in 1920 there was a further decrease in excess of 16,000,000 

 pounds. The packs of salmon and sanhnes were materially cur- 

 tailed in 1920, and increasing difficulty has been experienced in 

 marketing such fish as ^oupers on the Gulf coast, considerable 

 quantities being ckimped for lack of markets. 



These conchtions nave compelled a much closer, more serious 

 study of the economic situation. As a result there has been an 

 unusuallv heavy demand upon the Bureau for statistical and tech- 

 nological data, the conduct of investigations which promise improve- 

 ment in practices and economies of operation, aid in stimulating the 

 consumption of fish, and the extension of the use of fishery products 

 in the arts and industries. Although the reduction in the division's 

 appropriation for the fiscal year 1921 to S7,o00 has compelled the 

 f)ractical abandonment of technological research for the current fiscaf 

 yf-ar, an efl'ort has been made to render the inchistry the fullest 

 possible measure of service for its betterment and the benefit of the 

 consuming public. 



SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS. 



For effecting improvements and econonues in tlie methods of con- 

 (hicting the fishenes, arrangements were perfected by the Bureau 

 for an extended trial of seaplanes to determine their commercial 

 value as an adjunct to the fisheries, and a fishery intelligence service 

 was initiated m New England for supplying information as to the 

 presence of schooling fish in the \irinity of advantagpously located 



