﻿50 
  

  

  OTTER-TRAWL 
  FISHERY. 
  

  

  ing 
  effect. 
  The 
  men 
  employed 
  in 
  catching 
  bait* 
  would 
  lose 
  their 
  

   calling; 
  the 
  cold-storage 
  plants 
  preserving 
  food 
  fish 
  and 
  bait 
  at 
  

   various 
  places 
  on 
  the 
  coasts 
  would 
  lose 
  a 
  material 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  

   business; 
  shipbuilders, 
  manufacturers, 
  and 
  artisans 
  employed 
  in 
  

   supplying 
  the 
  sailing 
  fleet 
  would 
  find 
  their 
  business 
  destroyed 
  or 
  

   seriously 
  curtailed 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  wide 
  economic 
  readjustment 
  would 
  be 
  

   obligatory 
  in 
  many 
  communities. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  the 
  general 
  substitution 
  of 
  otter 
  trawls 
  for 
  

   lines 
  will 
  result 
  in 
  the 
  stimulation 
  of 
  steel 
  shipbuilding 
  and 
  related 
  

   industries 
  and 
  furnish 
  additional 
  markets 
  for 
  coal, 
  oil, 
  and 
  engineer- 
  

   ing 
  supplies. 
  The 
  trawl 
  nets 
  are 
  now 
  purchased 
  in 
  Great 
  Britain. 
  

   A 
  canning 
  establishment 
  which 
  recently 
  began 
  utilizing 
  the 
  bank 
  

   fishes 
  now 
  depends 
  largely 
  on 
  the 
  otter 
  trawls 
  for 
  its 
  raw 
  material. 
  

   AVhether 
  its 
  continuance 
  is 
  contingent 
  on 
  the 
  permanence 
  of 
  the 
  

   otter-trawl 
  fishery 
  is 
  not 
  loiown 
  to 
  us. 
  

  

  EFFECTS 
  OF 
  OTTER 
  TRAWLING 
  ON 
  THE 
  PRICE 
  OF 
  FISH. 
  

  

  An 
  important 
  element 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  lines 
  versus 
  otter 
  trawls 
  is 
  

   whether 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  admittedly 
  more 
  efficient 
  apparatus 
  

   will 
  result 
  in 
  a 
  reduction 
  in 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  fish. 
  The 
  consumer, 
  who 
  is 
  

   the 
  factor 
  of 
  paramount 
  economic 
  importance, 
  rarely 
  is 
  heard 
  when 
  

   industrial 
  legislation 
  is 
  being 
  considered, 
  and 
  for 
  that 
  reason 
  we 
  

   have 
  departed 
  from 
  our 
  avowed 
  purpose 
  to 
  refrain 
  from 
  discussion 
  

   of 
  general 
  economic 
  matters 
  not 
  peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  fisheries 
  and 
  have 
  

   endeavored 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  an 
  understanding 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  probable 
  effect 
  

   of 
  otter 
  trawls 
  on 
  the 
  trend 
  of 
  prices. 
  For 
  this 
  purpose 
  we 
  have 
  

   examined 
  the 
  prices 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  important 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  cod 
  

   family 
  and 
  fresh 
  fish 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  have 
  sold 
  in 
  Boston 
  during 
  each 
  

   year 
  since 
  1898. 
  These 
  data 
  are 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  table 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  diagram 
  based 
  thereon: 
  

  

  Prices 
  Received 
  by 
  Fishermen 
  for 
  Fresh 
  Fish 
  Landed 
  at 
  Boston, 
  1898 
  to 
  

  

  1914, 
  Inclusive. 
  

  

  a 
  Some 
  estimates 
  indicate 
  that 
  50,000,000 
  pounds 
  of 
  bait, 
  caught 
  by 
  boat 
  and 
  trap 
  fishermen, 
  are 
  

   used 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  fisheries 
  conducted 
  by 
  New 
  England 
  bank 
  vessels. 
  

   b 
  Excepting 
  mackerel. 
  Herring 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  excluded 
  for 
  lack 
  of 
  data. 
  

  

  