496 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER ()K FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Several fishery products sliown in tlie prec-eding- table in pounds, 

 for convenience of comparison, are presented in the following- table 

 in number and bushels, as usually marketed: 



THE FISHERIES BY COUNTIES. 



While the fisheries are prosecuted on both the eastern and western 

 shores of tlu; State, b}- far the larger catclios are made in the former 

 section, tliis l)eing particularly true in the case of oysters and crabs. 

 Somerset and Dorchester counties possess the most valuable fishery 

 resources in the State, tliis preeminence being due to 03'sters and crabs. 

 Dorchester leads slightly in the catch of o}'sters, but Somerset's valu- 

 able crab fishery more than offsets this advantage, three-fourths of the 

 State's soft-crab catch being taken in this county. Practically all of 

 these are handled at Crisfield and Deal Ishuid and shipped from these 

 points to the large cities throughout the United States and Canada. 

 Talbot County leads in the catch of hard crabs, the principal part of the 

 catch being used in factories, where the meat is extracted and shipped 

 in tin buckets. Most of these factories are located at Oxford, St. 

 Michaels, and vicinity, and Tilghnians Island. Large quantities of 

 hard crabs are also taken at Cambridge, Dorchester County, and Mount 

 Vernon, Somerset County, practically^ all of these being shipped alive. 

 The fisheries proper are prosecuted to the greatest extent in Worcester 

 County. This is the only county bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, 

 and most of the fishing is now done by means of pound nets, which, 

 since 1897, have increased from 1 to 7 in number. Talbot ranks next 

 to Worcester County in its pound net fisher}^, the principal catches 

 being made in the Choptank River and in Chesapeake Bay off Tilghman 

 Island. Squeteague is the most important species takcMi in Worcester, 

 and shad and alewives in Talbot County. 



Increased values are shown in 1901 compared with 1897 in the fisheries 

 of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Kent, Queen xVnne, Somerset, and 

 W icomico counties, while decreases are shown for the other fisheiy coun- 

 ties, especially in Caroline County, where a decline from $22,012 in 1897 

 to $5,787 in 1901 has taken place. This is due almost entirely to the 

 decrease in shad. With the exception of Charles County, the counties 

 showing increased values owe it to the better prices received for oysters. 

 A decided improvement is shown in the crab fisher}^ in ever}'" county 

 except Kent and Queen Anne. This compensated to a degree for the 

 poor showing made in some of the other fisheries, particularly the shad 

 and alewife. Harford and Worcester counties are the only counties 

 showing an increase in shad. The former count}' represents a natural 



