DECLINE OF STURGEON INDUSTRY 



299 



1898. During that period, 17 states participated in a catch 

 which amounted to 5,726,830 pounds, which sold for $321,036. 

 The catch in Oregon was nearly two million pounds, that of 

 New Jersey 868,326, and Virginia next. 



The Impending Extinction of the Sturgeon Industry. 

 — When the first edition of this Natural History was pud- 



lake STURGEON. 



lished, in 1904, the Sturgeon fishing industry of the United 

 States was at the zenith of prosperity. Since that time a great 

 change has taken place, and the Sturgeon is now well down 

 the toboggan-slide to oblivion. For the sake of the lesson 

 that the fate of this industry could teach to our commercial 

 fishermen, if they would pause to consider it, I deem it well 

 worth while to reproduce a page from the annual report of 

 United States Fish Commissioner Hugh M. Smith, for the 

 year ended June 30, 1913, page 66. It is entitled "The 

 Passing of the Sturgeon." 



