306 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



the alewives were taken with pound nets, the remainder being taken 

 with gill nets and fyke nets. 



Statistics of the catch of shad and alewives in the Potomac River 

 are also included in the catch data for Maryland and Virginia which 

 are published elsewhere in this report. 



Shad and Alewife fisheries of the Potomac River, 1936 



TRADE IN FISHERY PRODUCTS IN WASHINGTON, D. C. 



The municipal fish wharf and market in Washington, D. C, is 

 located in the southwestern part of the city on an arm of the Potomac 

 River. At the present time 18 firms have stalls in this market, 2 are 

 located in the immediate vicinity of the market, 3 have stalls in the 

 Center Market, located at Fifth and K Streets NW., and 2 are located 

 in other parts of the city. Altogether there are 25 firms which employ 

 131 persons who received $145,621 in salaries and wages during 1936. 

 Of the total employees 90 were regularly employed. These firms 

 conduct mainly a wholesale business although some retail trade is 

 carried on. 



The facilities for handling fish and oysters from boats and vessels 

 that may land at the wharf are good, but only a comparatively small 

 quantity are brought into the city by this method. In the fall and 

 winter, considerable cpiantities of shell oysters are landed, but most 

 of the oysters handled in Washington are brought in already shucked 

 from Maryland and Virginia, by trucks and other transportation 

 facilities. 



During the year 1936 the receipts of fresh and frozen fishery prod- 

 ucts as received at the municipal fish wharf amounted to 9,395,945 

 pounds. This is a decrease of 23 percent as compared with 1935, 

 and a decrease of 10 percent as compared with the 5-year average. 



During 1936 two firms in Washington, D. C, smoked fishery prod- 

 ucts and one firm produced shucked oysters. The total value of the 

 products produced by these firms amounted to $22,424. 



