LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



WASHINGTON, D. C., March 1, 1883. 

 Prof. SPENCER F. BAIKD, 



U. 8. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries : 



SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a geographical review of the fisheries of the 

 United States, including the fishery districts of the Atlantic, the Gulf, and the Pacific coasts, and 

 of the great lakes. This report has been prepared by the following-named census agents and 

 assistants of the United States Fish Commission : Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, Mr. A. Howard Clark, 

 Capt. Joseph W. Collins, Mr. li. Edward Earll, Mr. Kichard H. Edmonds, Mr. Ernest Ingersoll, 

 Prof. David S. Jordan, Mr. Ludwig Kumlien, Col. Marshall McDonald, Mr. Frederick Mather, 

 Mr. Silas Stearns, Mr. Frederick W. True, and Mr. W. A. Wilcox. The manuscript of this volume 

 was prepared for the press by Mr. R. E. Earll, and has been printed under the editorial supervision 

 of Mr. A. Howard Clark. 



This report constitutes Section II of the Special .Report on the Food Fishes and Fishery In- 

 dustries of the United States, prepared through the co-operation of the Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries and the Superintendent of the Tenth Census. Section I, the Natural History of Useful 

 Aquatic Animals, has already been published. 



The accompanying statistical statement gives a summary of the fisheries of the country in 

 1880. We find that the total number of persons actually employed in the fishery industries, either 

 as fishermen or in preparing the products for market, was 131,426, of whom 101,684 were fisher- 

 men, and the remainder shoresmen. The fishing fleet consisted of 6,605 vessels (aggregating 

 208,297.82 tons) and 44,804 boats, and the total amount of capital invested was $37,955,349, 

 distributed as follows: Vessels, $9,357,282; boats, $2,465,393; minor apparatus and outfits, 

 $8,145,261 ; other capital, including shore property, $17,987,413. 



The value of the fisheries of the sea, of the great rivers, and of the great lakes was $43,046,053, 

 and that of those in minor inland waters was $1,500,000; in all, $44,546,053. These values were 

 estimated upon the basis of the prices of the products received by the producers, and, if average 

 wholesale prices had been considered, the value would have been much greater. 



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