XII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



conditions prevailing in eacb lake, among wlii(;li may be noted variations 

 in the amonnt of apparatus used and the transler of fishing operations 

 from one lake to another or from American to Canadian waters in the 

 same lake. 



During the fiscal year 1892 the field investigations in the Middle 

 Atlantic States were, on account of the small force available for such 

 duty, confined to the basin of the Chesapeake Bay and to the adjoining 

 ocean shores of Maryland and Virginia. The extent of the fisheries 

 prosecuted in this region justified the very complete inquiries made, 

 and fully warranted the exi)euditure of the time necessary to study 

 the statistics and methods of the industry in all the tributary streams 

 of the region to the limits of economic fishing. This basin is the most 

 productive inland fishing-ground in the country, if not in the world; 

 the quantity of products withdrawn from it annualty is enormous, and 

 the value to the fishermen is over $10,000,000, or more than one-fifth 

 that of the fisheries of the entire country, while the number of persons 

 immediately connected with the industry is about 65,000 and the capital 

 invested is nearly $10,500,000. 



An interesting question comes up in connection with the considera- 

 tion of the fisheries of this region: In view of the enormous annual 

 drain on the fishery resources, what is their present condition com- 

 pared with any earlier year for Avhich data are available, and is the 

 supply apparently being maintained? Since 1880, an increase has 

 occurred in the fishing x)oi)ulation amounting to over 18,000 persons, 

 of whom two-thirds are fishermen proper and one-third shore employes. 

 A corresponding advance has taken place in the amount of the 

 invested capital aggregating over $2,250,000, the increase represent- 

 ing the use of larger numbers of boats and practically every form of 

 fishing appliances. Especially worthy of comment is the remarkable 

 augmentation in the number of pound nets operated, indicating a ten- 

 dency to substitute this more modern class of apparatus for the less 

 effective means of capture that formerly prevailed. 



The increase in fishing population and apparatus would naturally be 

 expected to produce an augmented yield, provided the supply had not 

 been seriously impaired by overfishing. The returns show a general 

 advance in output commensurate with the increases noted. The aggre- 

 gate increase in the value of the yield is about $3,274,000, or nearly 50 

 per cent, a sum in which most of the important products are repre- 

 sented. 



Foremost among the fishery resources of this region is the oyster, 

 the value of which is about four-fifths that of the entire fishery output. 

 The conservation of the oyster suj^ply is a question that has received 

 great attention, and the anticipation of a serious reduction in the 

 output under existing methods is borne out by the data at hand. 

 Notwithstanding an increase of nearly 10,000 oyster fishermen and 

 $1,800,000 in the capital devoted to the oyster industry, the yield of 

 oysters diminished over 1,500,000 bushels, although the market value 



