REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 133 



oil valued at $88,712, 440,151) gallons of sperm oil valued at $294,931, 

 120,150 pounds of bone valued at $585,347 and 20 pounds of ambergris 

 valued at -$5,277. The aggregate value of the fishery products was 

 $974,207, of which $656,072 represented the results of the fishery car. 

 ried on by New Bedford vessels rendezvousing at San Francisco and 

 fishing in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans; their catch was made 

 up of whale oil worth $67,778, sperm oil worth $37,044, and whalebone 

 worth $551,250. The aggregate gross stocks of the vessels fishing 

 from the different ports are shown in the summary. 



Summary of the X<w England whaling fleet in I 



The oyster fishery. — With the exception of the cod, the oyster was 

 the most valuable product of the New England fisheries in 1892. 

 Although absent from the waters of Maine and New Hampshire, and 

 taken in only limited quantities in Massachusetts, the extent of the 

 fishery iu Rhode Island and Connecticut is sufficient to give the oyster 

 a position in advance of such important products as haddock, halibut, 

 herring, mackerel, lobsters, and whales. 



The New England oyster industry in 1892 gave direct employment 

 to 1,741 persons, of whom 1,152 were fishermen and 589 were shores- 

 men, 714 of the former and 561 of the latter being in Connecticut. 

 The aggregate investment iu the industry was $471,931, exclusive of 

 the oyster-grounds. Of this amount over 8400,000 is to be credited 

 to Connecticut. $370,000 represented vessels and their outfit, $89,000 

 boats, and $12,000 dredges and tongs. The yield of the oyster fishery 

 consisted of 1,175,182 bushels of market oysters, valued at $1,201,782; 

 1,004,245 bushels of seed oysters, valued at $507,347; and 230,661 

 bushels of shells, used for planting purposes, valued at $8,263. 



The most interesting and suggestive feature of the oyster industry 

 of this section is the complete dependence tor the supply on grounds 

 under private ownership or control. During the period between 1880 

 and 1892 great changes occurred in the methods of the oyster fishery. 

 In 1S80 the exhaustion of the natural oyster-grounds had resulted in a 

 decrease in the fishery, the average size of the oysters was smaller 

 than before, and a still further decline in the industry was unavoidable 



