126 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The bulk of the catch in Maine is consumed in the preparation of 

 sardines and in smoking; while in Massachusetts more herring are 

 used for bait in the line fisheries than for any other purpose. 



In 1892 the number of persons engaged in fishing for herring in this 

 region was 1,995; of these, 1,109 were in Maine. The capital invested 

 in vessels, boats, and apparatus that were used in the capture of her- 

 ring was $364,840; of this sum, $197,120 is to be credited to Maine, 

 and $164,687 to Massachusetts. The aggregate catch of herring was 

 53,064,929 pounds of fresh fish; this was valued at $386,871 as it left 

 the hands of the fishermen in a fresh, pickled, or smoked state. 



Weirs, pound nets, gill nets, and seines take large quantities of 

 herring, but brush weirs secure the major part of the catch. In Maine, 

 these latter are to be credited with fully three-fourths of the herring 

 yield, and in the entire region they took nearly three-fifths of the 

 aggregate catch. Gill nets rank next to weirs and pounds in the quan- 

 tity of their yield; they are especially important in Maine, where about 

 seven-ninths of the herring thus secured are obtained. Seines take less 

 than half the fish caught with gill nets, and are more prominent in 

 Massachusetts than in Maine. On parts of the Massachusetts coast, 

 the use of dip nets and torches in the capture of herring is rather a 

 prominent feature of the fisheries, but in other States this primitive 

 method is now of no importance. 



Comparing the results of the herring fishery with previous years for 

 which complete data are available, it appears that in 1892 the total out- 

 put was nearly double that in 1880, and was considerably larger than in 

 1887, 1S88, or 1889. In Maine the catch in 1892 was nearly twice that 

 in 1880, and in Massachusetts the increase was comparatively almost as 

 large. The yield in both Maine and Massachusetts in 1892 was larger 

 than in any other year for which data are available. The following 

 table shows, by States, the quantity and value of herring caught in 

 each of the years named, the weights representing the fish aa taken 

 from the water : 



Table showing for a series of years the catch, of herring in the New England States. 



Pounds. Value. 



Maine ': 21,455,192 



New Hampshire I 108, 750 



Massachusetts ! 7, 794, 780 



Total 29,358,722 



$122, 596 



932 



62, 998 



186, 526 



1887. 



Pounds. 



32, 134, 005 



225, 500 



8,711,650 



41,071,155 



Value. 



$200, 615 



1,793 



74, 290 



Pounds. 



39, 018, 007 



358, 200 



10, 846, 770 



276,698 i 50,222,977 



Value. 



$239, 949 



3, 060 



96, 776 



339, 785 



States. 



Maine 



New Hampshire 

 Massachusetts. - 



Total 



Pounds. I Value. 



30, 056, 999 



1 'J. SIHI 



10,434,103 



40, 510, 902 



239, 571 

 195 



90, 762 



1892. 



Pounds. 



40, 814, 164 



146, 600 



12, 103, 465 



53, 064, 229 



Value. 



£274, 397 

 1,615 



110, 829 



Note.— In Rhode Island in 1892, 700 pounds of herring were caught, having a value of $30. 



