62 FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
the fisheries. Of the total, 8,036 are credited to North Carolina, 
2,000 to South Carolina, 1,680 to Georgia, and 3,330 to the east coast 
of Florida. 5 
Compared with the returns for 1902, there has been a decrease in 
the number of persons employed in North Carolina of 6,719, or 
45.54 per cent; in South Carolina, a decrease of 1,713, or 46.14 per 
cent; in Georgia, a decrease of 606, or 26.51 per cent, and in Florida, 
an increase of 632 persons, or 23.42 per cent. The total decrease 
for the entire region amounts to 8,406, or 35,84 per cent. 
The capital invested in the fisheries of this region amounted to 
$7,423,971, distributed as follows: North Carolina, $4,222,043; 
South Carolina, $221,251; Georgia, $769,998; and the east coast of 
Florida, $2,210,679. The investment included 261 fishing and trans- 
porting vessels, valued at $1,855,588 and having a net tonnage of 
5,597 tons and outfits valued at $565,858; 5,632 boats, valued at 
$910,218; fishing apparatus used by vessels and boats, valued at 
$957,239; shore and accessory property to the value of $2,731,918; 
and cash capital to the amount of $403,150. 
Compared with 1902, there has been an increase in the investment 
in North Carolina amounting to $2,248,602, or 113.94 per cent; in 
South Carolina, a decrease of $99,472, or 31.01 per cent; in Georgia, 
an increase of $427,848, or 125.04 per cent, and on the east coast of 
Florida,tan increase of $1,855,844, or 523.01 per cent, representing a 
total increase for the region of $4,432,822, or 148.19 per cent. 
The principal forms of fishing apparatus arranged in order of their 
value were: 3,779 pound nets, valued at $355,439; 15,399 gill nets, 
valued at $233,883; 91 purse seines, valued at $219,027; 582 haul 
seines, valued at $102,193; and 371 otter trawls, valued at $22,055. 
Other apparatus employed included fyke nets, dredges, lines, cast 
nets, stop nets, eel pots, tongs, grabs, rakes, spears, etc., to the value 
of $24,642. The use of the otter trawl introduced in the shrimp fishery 
at Fernandina, Fla., about 1515, represents the most important change 
in fishing apparatus since 1902. 
The products of the fisheries amounted to 332,614,123 pounds, 
having a value to the fishermen of $5,348,616. The yield of the 
various States was as follows: North Carolina, 210,501,750 pounds, 
valued at $2,978,708; South Carolina, 3,746,932 pounds, valued at 
$207,690; Georgia, 37,153,953 pounds, valued at $416,043; and east 
coast of Florida, 81,211,488 pounds, valued at $1,746,175. 
The more important species taken in these States were: Alewives, 
fresh and salted, taken mostly in North Carolina, 15,185,585 pounds, 
valued at $412,067; black bass, credited to North Carolina, 551,125 
pounds, valued at $63,137; bluefish, 892,045 pounds, valued at 
$85,567; cero and kingfish, taken mostly in Florida, 2,483,647 
pounds, valued at $161,562; menhaden, 257,757,799 pounds, val- 
ued at $1,605,117; mullet, fresh and salted, 11,757,318 pounds, valued 
at $508,044; sea bass, 577,596 pounds, valued at $50,592; shad, 
2,888,644 pounds, valued at $568,585; Spanish mackerel, credited 
mostly to Florida, 3,211,405 pounds, valued at $232,355; spot, 
1,692,775 pounds, valued at $72,795; squeteagues or ‘‘sea trout,” 
5,105,249 pounds, valued at $360,527; shrimp, 15,656,903 pounds, 
valued at $470,346; and oysters, 5,871,376 pounds, or 838,768 bush- 
els, valued at $260,863. 
