ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE WORLD'S FISHERIES 219 



usually account for about 45 per cent of the catch, otter trawls 20 per cent, all 

 types of lines 9 per cent, pound nets 8 per cent, and gill nets 6 per cent (Walford, 

 1945). 



In recent years the Pacific Coast States have been responsible for the greatest 

 volume and the most valuable production, followed by the New England States, 

 the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and Alaska (Table 41). California's produc- 

 tion reached over 25 per cent of the total volume and 14 per cent of the total 

 value in 1945. Alaska is usually second in production and Massachusetts third, 

 with the positions reversed with respect to value (Sandberg, 1945). 



San Pedro, California has been the nation's most important fishing port for 

 some years (Table 42). Its landings of 460 million pounds in 1948 consisted 



Table 42. Leading Ports, United States and Alaska, 1948. 



Port 



Landings 

 Volume Value 



Pounds Dollars 



San Pedro, Calif. 460,000,000 30,000,000 



Gloucester, Mass. 251,113,164 11,234,871 



Beaufort and Morehead City, N. C. 210,000,000 3,000,000 



San Diego, Calif. 200,000,000 35,000,000 



Boston, Mass. 199,980,363 16,182,503 



ReedviUe, Va. 153,000,000 1,600,000 



Lewes, Del. 148,000,000 2,053,000 



Monterey, Calif. 138,000,000 ^ 



New Bedford, Mass. 77,571,522 11,772,568 



^ Complete data not available. 



Source: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Anderson and Power, 1949; Power, 1946). 



primarily of tuna, pilchards, and mackerel for canning. Gloucester, Massachusetts 

 was second with landings of 251 million pounds, mainly rosefish, ground fish, 

 whiting and mackerel for the fresh and frozen fish trade. San Diego, California 

 and Boston, Massachusetts received about 200 million pounds each, for canning 

 and for the fresh and frozen market, respectively. In most years the little known 

 ports of Lewes, Delaware; Reedville, Virginia; Beaufort and Morehead City, 

 North Carolina; and Fernandina, Florida, rank high with huge landings of men- 

 haden, caught almost wholly for reduction into fish meal and fish oil. 



Since 1940 the largest part of the catch, from 33 to 40 per cent, has been 

 marketed fresh or frozen (Tables 38, 43, and 44, and Figure 4). A definite trend 

 toward frozen and packaged products led to the largest freezings in history- 

 over 290 million pounds— in 1948. For the first time about half of the frozen 

 products consisted of fillets. By-products and bait accounted for the second largest 

 portion of the catch, from 29 to 35 per cent, closely followed by canned products, 

 with 27 to 32 per cent. Cured products utilized the remainder, usually 2 to 3 

 per cent. 



Seasonally, the greatest catches usually occur in the third quarter of the 

 year; in a 1945 study they amounted to almost 43 per cent (Table 43). June to 

 October, inclusive, were the highest producing months, with August the best by 

 a small margin (Table 44). Frozen holdings in the nation's cold storage ware- 



