REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 113 

 INQUIRIES AT BOSTON AND GLOUCESTER, MASS. 



The local agents of the Conimissiou at these important fishing- ports 

 have continued their eificient service along- the lines indicated in pre- 

 vious reports. Their returns show the extent of the fisheries centering 

 at these places, and afford an accurate idea of the general condition of 

 the vessel fisheries of New England. 



The receipts at Gloucester in 1894 of fish caught by United States 

 fishing vessels aggregated nearly 80,000,000 pounds, having a value of 

 over $2,229,000. Following is a comparison of the receipts in the 

 calendar years 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1894, from which it will be 

 seen that the quantity of fish landed in 1894 was nearly 5,000,000 pounds 

 greater than in the previous year, and more than 3,000,000 pounds 

 greater than the average for the five years in question. 



The number of separate fares of fish which entered Gloucester in 

 1894 was 3,583; of these, 77G were from the fishing- grounds located to 

 the east of the sixty-sixth meridian, and 2,807 from the grounds off the 

 Kew England coast. Of the arrivals from the eastern grounds, 177 

 were from La Have Bank, 148 from Grand Bank, 122 from Western 

 Bank, 120 from Quereau Bank, and 100 from Cape Shore. Of the more 

 western grounds, Georges Bank contributed 782 fares, Cashes Bank 

 225 fares, Nantucket Shoals and South Channel 99 fares, and the gen- 

 eral shore grounds off the New England coast 1,587 fares. 



Cod constituted more than half the catch. The quantity of cod 

 landed was over 35,800,000 pounds of salt fish, valued at more than 

 $1,000,000, and about 6,000,000 pounds of dressed fresh fish, valued at 

 $100,000. The aggregate quantity, 41,900,000 pounds, exceeded the 

 receipts in 1893 by 3,351,600 pounds. The Grand Banks yielded more 

 than all the other grounds combined ; upward of 18,000,000 pounds of 

 salt cod, worth nearly $450,000, are credited to these famous banks. 

 The catch was 358,000 jiounds less than in 1893, but this decrease was 

 more than counterbalanced by the noteworthy increase in the produc- 

 tion of other offshore grounds, especially La Have and Western banks, 

 so that the aggregate recei])ts of cod from the eastern banks were 

 greater in 1894 than in 1893 by over 400,000 pounds. Georges Bank, 

 the most productive of the western grounds, yielded 13,600,000 pounds 

 of fresh and salted cod, having a value of nearly $400,000, an increase of 

 2,295,000 pounds over the previous year. All the other grounds off the 

 New England coast produced less than 5,000,000 pounds. 

 F. R. 95 8 



