264 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES^ 



the hooks are agahi baited, and the lino is returned to the ^yate^ to 

 continue fishing. This is done a number of times, or as long as fish are 

 being taken in satisfactory quantities, before the line is removed from 

 the water. Line fishing is followed in both the vessel and shore fish- 

 eries, but the catch in the former is much greater than in the latter. 

 The species taken in largest quantities with hand and trawl lines are 

 cod, haddock, and hake. The sounds or swim-bladders of the hake 

 add hiaterially to the value of that species. 



Poiuid nets, trap nets, and weirs took 145,845,269 pounds of various 

 species, valued at $479,347. Of this quantit}' 143,719,800 pounds, 

 valued at $406,186, consisted of herring, most of which were taken 

 in Washington Count}", where they were used chief!}" in the sardine 

 canneries and smokehouses. 



Hoes and dredges are used in l)oth the vessel and siiore fisheries, the 

 former exclusively in taking clams and the latter in taking scallops. 

 The catch with these two forms of apparatus, including 85,000 pounds 

 of winkles, worth |1,000, picked by hand, was 5,746,216 pounds, exclu- 

 sive of shells, and was worth $209,499. 



In the seine fisheries the yield was 11,548,835 pounds, valued at 

 $143,962. jNIackerel and herring were the principal species taken 

 with seines in the vessel fisheries and smelt in the shore fisheries.' 



The catch with gill nets in the vessel and shore fisheries was 

 4,344,304 pounds, valued at $103,635. The most important species 

 taken were mackerel, herring, shad, and salmon. The average length 

 of the nets employed is from about sixty to one hundred yards each. 

 Cod gill nets are used to only a limited extent, as in recent years they 

 have proved unprofitable. They average about sixty yards in length, 

 and are set on the bottom and kept in place by buoys and anchors. The 

 floats, of which each net requires eighteen to twenty-five to support 

 it, are of glass, and cost 18 cents each. The nets are set from 1^ to 8 

 miles from shore, being moved to the latter distance as the season 

 advances. 



A number of less important forms of apparatus, as fyke nets, dip 

 nets, hoop nets, bag nets, traps, spears, and harpoons, were employed 

 in the fisheries of this state, the catch in the aggregate amounting to 

 8,675,749 pounds, valued at $98,900. 



The following tables present, by apparatus of capture, the quantity 

 and value of products taken in the vessel and shore fisheries of Maine 

 in 1902: 



