FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



81 



The fish products proper amounted in the aggregate 

 to 6,232,000 pounds, or 58 per cent of the total weight 

 of fishery products, and were valued at $206,000, or 

 53 per cent of the total value. The value of the fish 

 products constituted 40 per cent of the total in the 

 case of the shore and boat fisheries, and 76 per cent 

 in the case of the vessel fisheries. The products of 

 the vessel fisheries were chiefly red snapper and 

 oysters, all other products amounting to only 13 per 

 cent. 



The combined catch of the shore and boat fisher- 

 ies aggregated 6,312,000 pounds, having a value of 

 $244,000. Of this catch, 93 per cent in quantity and 

 88 per cent in value was from the Gulf district. 



Of the products of the shore and boat fisheries for 

 the state, the oyster catch formed 57 per cent in 

 value. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. The product 

 caught by means of tongs, representing the oyster 

 catch, contributed a larger percentage of the total 

 products, as measured by value, than the product 

 caught by any other class of apparatus, and formed 

 nearly two-thirds of the shore and boat products of 

 the Gulf district ; while the catch of lines contributed 

 more than two-thirds of the total for the vessel 

 fisheries, and that of fyke nets nearly one-half of the 

 total for the Tennessee River. Seines were used to a 

 comparatively small extent, and gill nets still less 

 and only in the vessel fisheries. The catch in wooden 

 traps, all in the Tennessee River, was a substantial one, 

 aggregating 107,000 pounds. The following tabular 

 statement shows the value and distribution of the 

 catch, by the various kinds of apparatus: 

 76786 11 6 



Oysters. The product of the oyster fishery was 

 590,000 bushels, valued at $173,000, which was 45 per 

 cent of the total value of all products. The oyster 

 catch included 54,000 bushels of seed oysters, having 

 a value of $4,100, and 536,000 bushels of market oys- 

 ters, having a value of $169,000. All of the seed 

 oysters were from public areas, and of the market 

 oysters 12 per cent were from private areas and 88 per 

 cent from public areas. The value of the oysters from 

 private areas formed 22 per cent of the total value of 

 market oysters and their average value was 59 cents 

 per bushel, compared with 28 cents per bushel for 

 oysters from public areas. The oyster product of 1908 

 shows a large increase over the figures for 1902, in 

 which year the total product reported amounted to 

 347,000 bushels, valued at $120,000. The increase in 

 quantity of oysters, exclusive of seed oysters, was 

 189,000 bushels, or 54 per cent, and the increase in 

 value $49,000, or 41 per cent. The gain was confined 

 almost entirely to the product from the public areas, 

 the product from the private areas increasing only 17 

 per cent in quantity and decreasing 5 per cent in value. 

 Oysters can be taken from the public reefs at any time, 

 the demand alone governing the fishermen in this 

 particular. Tongs are the only apparatus allowed for 

 taking oysters, and the quantity of oysters permitted 

 per single boat is limited to 3,500 bushels per week. 

 No oysters measuring less than 2J inches from hinge to 

 mouth can be taken. 



Red snapper. The red snapper was' the most im- 

 portant of the kinds of fish caught, and in 1908 con- 

 stituted nearly one-fourth of all products both in 

 quantity and in value. It is a deep-sea fish, the fish- 

 ing being done with lines in from 20 to 75 fathoms of 

 water, and the catch figures solely in the vessel fish- 

 eries. This fishery centers at Mobile, and the vessels 

 go as far east as Tampa, Fla., and as far west as the 

 Mexican coast. 



Mullet. The mullet ranked next in importance in 

 1908, and formed 16 per cent of the total quantity of 



