CHAPTER. XXI. 



Commercial Fishing. 



ISHING for market, or commercial fishing is a 

 vast industry in the United States, so large that 

 many readers of this book will look with amaze- 

 ment at some of the data given in this chapter. 

 The entire country is divided into five main 

 divisions as follows : Atlantic Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific 

 Coast, Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and its trib- 

 utaries. 



The fisheries of the Atlantic Coast division employed 

 94,281 persons, and a capital investment of over $25,000,000, 

 with a value ol fish products caught in one year amounting 

 to $35,475,000. The Gulf of Mexico division employed 15,481 

 persons, with a catch valued at $4,885,000. The Pacific Coast 

 division employed 19,855 persons, with a catch valued at 

 $6,839,000. The Mississippi River division with 11,731 persons 

 employed and a catch valued at $3,125,000. The Great Lakes 

 division with 8,533 persons employed and a catch valued 

 at $3,767,000. 



Of the total number of persons engaged in the fishing 

 industry of the United States in 1908, 25 per cent, were 

 employed on fishing and transporting vessels, 73 per cent, in 

 the shore and boat fisheries, and 2 per cent, as shoresmen, 

 directly connected with the catching of fish. In addition to 

 the foregoing there were 2,952 proprietors, not engaged in 

 fishing. 



The Atlantic Coast division was by far the most im- 

 portant in the United States, giving occupation to 66 per 

 cent, of all the persons engaged in fishing, the Gulf of Mexico 



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