REPORT OF THE fOMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES XXVII 



Italian inetho'l. The fii'st appearaiu-e in appreciable amount of this 

 style of" pack ^vas in 19*21, -when Li)."))^ cases, valued at $1*2.715, were 

 [)acke(l. In 1923 this i)ack totaled 131,745 cases, valued at $l,13()..sl4. 



In 1!>23 tlie shrimp pack in the South Atlantic and (Julf States 

 amounted to ()!)1.3:>i) cases, ^•alued at $4,250,379, This is a gain of 

 is ])er cent in amount and 39 per cent in value over 1922. As in 

 former years, Louisiana and Arississip})i Avere the leadinir pi-oducers. 

 The crab pack in Alaska, Maine, ^Maryland, JNIississippi, and Vir- 

 ginia was less than half that of the previous year, amounting to 

 4.138 cases, valued at $47,023. The production of canned oysters in 

 1923 showed an increase of 3 per cent in amount and 12 per cent in 

 value over that of 1922. The actual ])ack in 1923 was 537,549 cases, 

 valued at $2,720,073. The i)ack of razor, hard, and soft clams in 

 1923 totaled 32S.229 eases, valued at $1.710,61(). This is somewhat 

 greater in amount and smaller in value than the 1922 pack. 



In 1923, 52 plants were engaged in the manufacture of products 

 from menhaden, as compared with 45 plants in 1922. These pro- 

 duced 88.387 tons of Hsh meal and scrap, valued at $3,094,276, and 

 7.461,365 gallons of oil, valued at $3,316,277. This is a slight de- 

 crease in scrap and meal producti(m and an increase in oil })roduc- 

 tion as compared with 1922. In addition to this there was ])r()duced 

 in 1923 from other hsh and shellHsh, Hsh scrap, meal, and shrimj) 

 bran to the amount of 25.498 tons, valued at $1,319,109. and various 

 fish oils, irlue, and miscellaneous bv-products to the value of 

 $2,543,793. ' 



The shell products from oyster, nuissel, and clam shells included 

 crushed shells for poultrA', lime dust, lime, and stucco, amounting to 

 317,765 tons and valued at $2,429,406. Of this, 308,791 tons, valued 

 at $2,358,535, were from oy.ster shells. 



FROZEX-FISH TRADE 



Statistics of the cold-storage holdings of frozen fish and the quan- 

 tity of fish frozen are collected by the Bureau of Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics, Department of Agriculture. These statistics were collected 

 by the Bureau of Markets, Department of Agriculture, from Octo- 

 ber, 1916. to June, 1922. The reports give the holdings on the loth 

 of each month. Through the courtesy of that bureau arrangements 

 were made in Decembei-. 1921, for the Bureau of Fisheries to pub- 

 lish and disseminate this information, beginning with the returns 

 for Januar}' 15, 1922. in the form of a monthly statistical bulletin. 

 This bulletin gives the holdings by species and sections, total hold- 

 ings for the current month and for the same month of the previous 

 year, the five-year average, holdings for the previous month, and 

 the quantity of each species frozen during the month and during the 

 same month the previous year. 



In 1923 the cold-storage holdings of fish, as compared with 1922, 

 were smaller from January to June and larger from July to Decem- 

 ber. The holdings w^ere :^nudlest in April and largest in December. 



The total quantity of fish frozen during the year ending December 

 15, 1923. was 91,548,643 pounds, which was an" increase of 16,094,969 

 pounds, or 21.3 per cent, over the previous year. The principal 

 species frozen during the year were ciscoes, 16,101,224 pounds; sal- 



