62 FISHEKY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 



the fisheries. Of the total, 8,036 are credited to North CaroHna, 

 2,000 to South Carolina, 1,680 to Georgia, and 3,330 to the east coast 

 of Florida. 



Compared mth the returns for 1902, there has been a decrease in 

 the number of persons employed in North Carolina of 6,719, or 

 45.5-4 per cent; in South Carolina, a decrease of 1,713, or 46.14 per 

 cent; in Georgia, a decrease of 606, or 26.51 per cent, and in Florida, 

 an increase of 632 persons, or 23.42 per cent. The total decrease 

 for the entire region amounts to 8,406, or 35.84 per cent. 



The capital invested in the fisheries of this region amounted to 

 S7,423,971, distributed as follows: North Carolina, $4,222,043; 

 South Carolina, $221,251; Georgia, $769,998; and the east coast of 

 Florida, $2,210,679. The investment included 261 fishing and trans- 

 porting vessels, valued at $1,855,588 and having a net tonnage of 

 5,597 tons and outfits valued at $565,858; 5,632 boats, valued at 

 $910,218; fishing apparatus used by vessels and boats, valued at 

 $957,239; shore and accessory property to the value of $2,731,918; 

 and cash capital to the amount of $403,150. 



Compared with 1902, there has been an increase in the investment 

 in North Carolina amounting to $2,248,602, or 113.94 per cent; in 

 South Carolina, a decrease of $99,472, or 31.01 per cent; in Georgia, 

 an increase of $427,848, or 125.04 per cent, and on the east coast of 

 Florida, an increase of $1,855,844, or 523.01 per cent, representing a 

 total increase for the region of $4,432,822, or 148.19 per cent. 



The principal forms of fishing apparatus arranged in order of their 

 value were: 3,779 pound nets, valued at $355,439; 15,399 gill nets, 

 valued at $233,883; 91 purse seines, valued at $219,027; 582 haul 

 semes, valued at $102,193; and 371 otter trawls, valued at $22,055. 

 Other apparatus employed included fyke nets, dredges, lines, cast 

 nets, stop nets, eel pots, tongs, grabs, rakes, spears, etc., to the value 

 of $24,642. The use of the otter trawl introduced in the shrimp fishery 

 at Fernandina, Fla., about 1915, represents the most important change 

 in fishing apparatus since 1902. 



The products of the fisheries amounted to 332,614,123 pounds, 

 having a value to the fishermen of $5,348,616. The yield of the 

 various States was as follows: North Carolina, 210,501,750 pounds, 

 valued at $2,978,708; South Carolina, 3,746,932 pounds, valued at 

 $207,690; Georgia, 37,153,953 pounds, valued at $416,043; and east 

 coast of Florida, 81,211,488 pounds, valued at $1,746,175. 



The more important species taken in these States were: Alewives, 

 fresh and salted, taken mostly in North Carolina, 15,185,585 pounds, 

 valued at $412,067; black bass, credited to North Carolina, 551,125 

 pounds, valued at $63,137; bluefish, 892,045 pounds, valued at 

 $85,567; cero and kingfish, taken mostly in Florida, 2,483,647 

 pounds, valued at $161,562; menhaden, 257,757,799 pounds, val- 

 ued at $1,605,117; mullet, fresh and salted, 11,757,318 pounds, valued 

 at $508,044; sea bass, 577,596 pounds, valued at $50,592; shad, 

 2,888,644 pounds, valued at $568,585; Spanish mackerel, credited 

 mostly to Florida, 3,211,405 pounds, valued at $232,355; spot, 

 1,692,775 pounds, valued at $72,795; squetcagues or "sea trout," 

 5,105,249 pounds, valued at $360,527; shrimp, 15,656,903 pounds, 

 valued at .$470,346; and oysters, 5,871,376 pounds, or 838,768 bush- 

 els, valued at $260,863. 



