\ THE FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



support highly important fisheries for cod, haddock, halibut, pollock, 

 h&ktr and other fishes. Similarly, on the west coast, there are important 

 Ashing banks from Oregon to Alaska inclusive, which maintain important 

 fisheries for halibut, cod, sablefish, and other species. On the remaining 

 coastal area, fishing banks are of lesser importance. There are, however, 

 important coastal and river fisheries for shellfish, oysters, clams, lobster, 

 crabs, etc.; surface schooling fishes (mackerel, tunas, and menhaden); 

 anadromous species (salmon, shad, and river herring) , and the like. Of 

 the interior waters, the Great Lakes on the northern boundary line are 

 most important, maintaining valuable fisheries for whitefish, ciscoes, 

 pike perches, and carp. Approximately one-third of the catch of interior 

 waters is taken from these lakes, amounting to about 100,000,000 pounds 

 annually. 



FISHING APPARATUS. 



Pound nets, traps, and weirs are the most important form of fishing 

 gear, representing 45 per cent of the total investment in fishing apparatus 

 in the United States. These are fixed nets, set as a rule in relatively 

 shallow water (up to 50 feet), and are employed in the capture of marine, 

 anadromous, and fresh- water fishes. The distinctive feature of such gear, 

 is a long leader of webbing or brush which serves to deflect the fishes 

 swimming along the shore or ascending the streams into a pocket or trap. 



Gill nets represent 28 per cent of the investment in fishing apparatus. 

 These may be stationary or drifted with the tide, the fish becoming 

 entangled in the fine webbed meshes. Seines rank third in value, repre- 

 senting 12 per cent of the investment, and are used to surround the fish 

 by encircling (purse seine) or by bringing the free ends to the shore 

 (haul seine). Lobster pots represent about 4 per cent and lines about 

 3 per cent of the investment. Many other forms of apparatus, such as 

 trammel nets, fyke nets, stop nets, beam trawls, otter trawls, dredges, 

 drags, tongs, rakes, grapples, etc., are employed in the fisheries of the 

 United States. 



FISHERIES. 



Salmon. The Pacific salmon fishery may be classed as the most 



important commercial fishery in the United States, the annual catch 



exceeding 300,000,000 pounds. The five important species are as follows : 



King or chinook salmon, flesh deep salmon red or white. 



Blueback, sockeye, or red salmon, flesh red, forms the greatest part 



of the canned salmon of the world. 

 Silver or coho salmon, flesh of excellent flavor, but paler in color 



than the red salmon. 

 Pink or humpback salmon, flesh pale, hence canned as "pink" 



salmon. 

 Chum salmon, flesh light yellow. 



