18 REPOKT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



J 



with an approximate value of $6,000,000, and the British CoUimbia 

 output is given as 1,167,460 cases, including " tails" and "flats," there 

 being 1,103,229 cases of the former and 64,231 cases of the latter. 

 Reducing the number of cases packed in flat form to the standard 

 48-pound cases, the output for Bi'itish Columbia amounts to 1,135,345 

 cases, which makes a total of 4,450,588 cases, exclusive of salted salmon, 

 for the entire Pacific coast. The total value of the product was over 

 $17,000,000, about 113,000,000 being the approximate value of the 

 American pack. 



Swordfish andpoUoch. — Swordfish are steadily increasing in number. 

 In 1905 the catch amounted to over 2,000,000 pounds, with a value to 

 the fishermen of $109,547. In the same year pollock were verj' plen- 

 tiful, 22,041,977 pounds, valued at $216,303, being landed at Boston 

 and Gloucester, the principal markets. 



Whales. — There is no improvement in the whale fishery, less sperm 

 and whale oil being landed in 1905 than in the previous jear. . The 

 12,985 barrels of whale oil taken in 1905 is the smallest quantity since 

 1897, when the product was 13,650 barrels. Following this there 

 was a steady increase for five 3' ears, but since 1902 the product has 

 gradual 1}^ fallen again. 



The whaling fleet now consists of 42 vessels — 13 schooners, 15 barks, 

 11 steamers, and 3 brigs — nearly all of which cruise in the North 

 Pacific and Indian oceans, there being only 8 in the Atlantic. 



Lohsters. — It is stated by fishermen that there is a slight increase in 

 the yield of lobsters, and at no time thus far during the season of 

 1906 has there been noticed such a scarcit}^ as was observed in 1904 

 and 1905. 



Oysters. — The past year's legislation affecting the Maryland oyster 

 grounds, bringing this State at last abreast of the other oj^ster- 

 producing States in relation to its most valuable fishery, suggests some 

 striking comparisons. 



In Long Island Sound the oyster product has long been taken 

 from planted grounds. ]\Iore than twenty -five 3'ears ago the States 

 of Connecticut and New York assumed control of the oyster bot- 

 toms within their boundaries and, under a system of rental or sale, 

 made it to the interest of oyster men to cultivate the productive areas. 

 As a result the output between 1880 and 1897 rose 522.3 per cent 

 in quantity and 224.9 per cent in value in Connecticut, and 112.3 per 

 cent in quantity and 35.8 per cent in value in New York, with a gain 

 continuous to the present time. In New Y^ork the output in 1904 was 

 50 per cent greater than it was in 1897, while its market value 

 exceeded that of the oyster product of any other State. 



The history of the oyster fishery in the Chesapeake Bay region 

 presents quite another aspect. The great natural resources, far supe- 

 rior to those of the more northern waters, seemed inexhaustible. 



