138 American Fisheries Society 



els per acre which at the market price of $.40 per bushel 

 amounts to a value of $1,600 to $2,400. Allowing 3 

 years for the growth of these beds it leaves an annual 

 average income of from $500 to $800 per acre. Further- 

 more, the time and labor required to plant and care for 

 an acre of mussels is almost nothing compared with that 

 expended by the agriculturist in raising his grain. 



The importance of the mussel fishery in Europe ranks 

 second only to that of the oyster among the shellfish 

 industries. The statistics have been difficult to secure 

 with any degree of completeness but what few official 

 reports have been obtained show that the total value 

 aggregates close to a million dollars which is distributed 

 among the countries as follows : 



Quantity: Value: 



Country Pounds. Dollars. 



France _ „ 90,044,010 $559,276 



Belgium _ 56, 129,356 255,133 



Netherlands _ _„ 3,737,481 23,300 



Ireland 15,510 



Portugal „ 12,275 



England _ 3,519,860 15,125 



Germany _ „ _ __ „ 370,100 2,375 



Total „ _ _ „.$882,994 



Dr. Ray Lancaster in his article on the mussel in the 

 Encyclopedia Britannica states that in 1873 the mussels 

 exported from Antwerp to Paris to be used for food 

 were valued at $1,400,000. If this production still con- 

 tinues the total yearly value of the mussel fishery for 

 Belgium and France alone equals nearly $2,000,000. This 

 indicates how the mussel is appreciated in Europe. 



In the United States, although exceedingly abundant, 

 the value of the sea mussel as a food product remains 

 almost unknown. The quantity and value of sea mussels 

 marketed in the United States for food, bait and fertil- 

 izer in 1908 was as follows: 



Quantity : Value : 



State. Pounds. Dollars. 



New York _ 8,175,000 $8,200 



California _ 68,000 1,600 



New Jersey _ 287,000 1,400 



Connecticut „ _ 7,200 200 



Rhode Island _ _ _._. 3,500 100 



Massachusetts 1,100 100 



Total „ „ 8,541,800 $11,600 



