REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 7 



trade, are blue pike, ciscoes, cod, saucer, whitefish, yellow pike, and 

 shucked oysters. At the time the survey was made 71 firms were 

 engaged in the fish business. Five of the firms were in the whole- 

 sale trade exclusively and six in both the wholesale and retail trades. 

 In the retail stores ice was used in conjunction with all displays, 

 of which 86 per cent were made in inclosed cases covered with 

 glass or other protective materials. 



The bulk of Chicago^s supply of fresh and frozen fish is derived 

 from the Great Lakes, the North Pacific coast, and lakes in the 

 Dominion of Canada. During the year ended July 31, 1921, 526 

 carloads of fresh and frozen fish, exclusive of oysters, were received 

 from the Dominion of Canada, as compared with 272 from the 

 United States. During the same period 195 carloads of oysters were 

 received and 422 express csMoads of fish passing through Chicago 

 from northern and western points, consigned to points in the East 

 and South, were opened and partially unloaded en route by local 

 dealers. Of the 81 different species marketed in Chicago approxi- 

 mately 70 per cent of the trade is confined to but 11, namely, buf- 

 falofish, carp, ciscoes, whitefish, lake trout, salmon, pike or " jacks," 

 yellow perch, "yellow pike" (pike perch), halibut, and shucked 

 oysters. The fishery products are handled either exclusively or as 

 major commodities, compared with other foods, by 222 Chicago firms, 

 of which 56 are in the wholesale business exclusively. In addition 

 there are several thousand butcher, grocery, and delicatessen stores 

 that handle fish as a side line on Fridays. 



Minneapolis and St. Paul receive their supplies of fish mainly 

 from lakes in the Canadian Provinces of Manitoba and Alberta, 

 Lake Superior, near-by rivers and small lakes, and the North Pacific 

 coast from Seattle to Prince Rupert. About 90 per cent of the sales 

 of fresh and frozen fishery products consists of " yellow pike " or 

 pike perch, halibut, salmon, lake trout, whitefish, ciscoes or " lake 

 herring," and shucked ovsters. During the vear ended September 

 30, 1921, 5,142,^83 pounds of frozen fish, of which 3,629,713 pounds 

 are credited to Minneapolis, were placed in public cold-storage ware- 

 houses in these two cities. 



As a distributing center for fresh and frozen fishery products 

 Seattle is the most important on the Pacific coast and as a fishing 

 port is exceeded in the United States only by Boston and Gloucester, 

 Mass. The quantity of fresh and frozen fish received during 1921 

 amounted to over 45,000,000 pounds, of which 63 per cent was re- 

 shipped in the fresh or frozen condition for consumption in other 

 cities. Of the carload shipments 92 per cent was consigned to points 

 east of Omaha, Nebr., and less-than-carload shipments were con- 

 fined largely to cities west of Omaha. Salmon and halibut consti- 

 tute the backbone of the trade, the combined landings of these two 

 species during 1921 constituting over 83 per cent of all fresh and 

 frozen fishery products reaching this market. Fishing areas off the 

 coast of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, to- 

 gether with Puget Sound, constitute the principal areas of supply. 

 Fish-freezing establishments located in Seattle froze in excess of 

 12,000,000 pounds of fish during 1921 and received over 2,000,000 

 pounds already frozen. Withdrawals during this period amounted 

 to 14,077,007 pounds, of which 6,209,562 pounds were halibut and 

 6,137,484 pounds salmon. 



