50 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 
Investigations completed by the Bureau during the year, in 
addition to the work of local agents in collecting data tor important 
vessel fisheries on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, cluded canvasses 
of the fresh-water mussel fishery of the Mississippi River and its 
western tributaries from Kansas northward; the fisheries of Lakes 
Pepin and Cooper in the Mississippi River, the tormer between 
Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the latter at Keokuk, Iowa; the 
crab industry of Maryland and Virginia; the shad and alewife 
industry of Chesapeake Bay and tributaries; the coastal fisheries of 
New York and New Jersey, exclusive of shellfish, for 1915; and the 
shad fishery of the Hudson River for 1915 and 1916. The inquiries 
relating to the fresh-water mussel fishery in the region referred to, 
and those relating to the shad and alewife industry, were begun the 
latter part of the preceding fiscal year. 
FRESH-WATER MUSSEL FISHERY. 
The general canvass of the fresh-water mussel fishery, which has 
been in progress for several years, was completed during the past 
year. The streams covered were the Mississippi River and_ its 
western tributaries from Kansas northward, except the Neosho 
River in Kansas, which was included m the work of a previous year; 
and the data collected were for the calendar year 1914. A special 
bulletin giving the results of the canvass was issued and distributed. 
The number of persons engaged in the mussel fishery in these streams 
in 1914 was 1,873, and the investment in boats, fishing apparatus, 
and shore and accessory property amounted to $132,267. The 
products included 8,539 tons of shells, valued at $148,960, and pearls 
found in the mussels to the value of $62,902, a total of $211,862. All 
the shells were used in the manufacture of pearl buttons. The 
principal fishing apparatus used dn takmg mussels is the crowtoot 
Bae the catch with this appliance in this region amounting to 6,524 
tons of shells, valued at $120,859. The remainder of the catch was 
taken with forks, rakes, diggers, tongs, scoops, or basket rakes, and ° 
by hand while wading. . 
Mississippi River—The most tmportant of these streams is the 
Mississippi River, the products of which amounted to 6,626 tons of 
shells, valued at $125,948, and $50,562 worth of pearls, a total of 
$176,510 in value. ‘Fhis shows a decline of about 58 per cent in 
quantity and 61 per cent in value of the output of shells and pearls 
since 1903, the last previous year for which data are available. In 
view of the tact that the mussel fishery has been prosecuted in the 
Mississippi River for nearly 25 years, the decline in the output is 
not so surprising. Nearly 94 per cent of the river’s catch in 1914 
was taken with crowfoot bars, and of the remainder 2 per cent were 
taken with forks, 2 per cent with rakes, and 2 per cent with diggers 
and tongs. Fishmg with crowfoot bars is more vigorously prose- 
cuted in Lake Pepin than in any other portion of the river. In many 
cases two rowboats or scows are connected by a bar or pole 10 to 15 
feet long, a gasoline boat pushing against the middle of the bar 
being used as the propelling power. The two small boats are pro- 
vided with 4 srommoue bars, 3 of which are being fished while the 
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