FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



97 



Over 70 per cent of the total number were employed 

 in the shore and boat fisheries, and more than one- 

 half of the total number were wage-earners, independ- 

 ent fishermen being relatively not so numerous in 

 this state as in the South Atlantic and the Gulf states. 

 Although the number of persons fishing on their own 

 account and not employing any wage-earners is not 

 ascertainable, yet it is apparent that of the 804 

 proprietors and independent fishermen engaged in shore 

 and boat fisheries, one-half or more were independent 

 fishermen. Of the 442 wage-earners in the vessel 

 fisheries, 266, or more than one-half, were employed in 

 the menhaden fisheries. 



Equipment and other capital. The following tabular 

 statement shows the capital invested in the industry 

 and its distribution, by class of investment, together 

 with the number and tonnage of the vessels and the 

 number of the boats: 



More than one-half of the capital was invested in 

 steam vessels. Of the 12 reported, 11, with a total 

 tonnage of 1,136, were employed in menhaden fish- 

 eries, and 1 , of 5 tons, in oyster dredging. 



The total investment in vessels, both fishing and 

 transporting, aggregated $334,000, the investment in 

 boats $38,000, and the investment in apparatus of 

 capture $63,000. Of the latter, $24,000 pertained to 

 vessel fisheries and $38,000 to shore and boat fisheries. 

 76786 11 7 



The investment in fishing and transporting vessels and 

 in apparatus of capture for vessels aggregated $358,000, 

 of which 93 per cent represents the value of vessels and 

 7 per cent that of apparatus of capture. In the shore 

 and boat fisheries the in vestment in boats'and apparatus 

 of capture combined was $77,000, an amount which was 

 about equally divided. The number of each kind of 

 apparatus used was as follows: 



Bow nets 4 



Cast nets 5 



Dip nets 168 



Eel and lobster pots 3, 167 



Fyke and hoop neta 1, 806 



Gill nets 865 



All of the apparatus enumerated above, except 1 gill 

 net and 23 seines, was used in shore and boat fisheries. 



Products, by species. Table 1, on page 99, gives the 

 weight and value of the fishery product of the state, 

 distributed by species and by apparatus of capture. 



The product of the menhaden fisheries was the most 

 important, if measured by market values, for, although 

 the total value of the oyster product was greater, one- 

 third of the latter represented seed oysters and but 

 two-thirds market oysters. In quantity the men- 

 haden catch largely exceeded that of all other fishery 

 products, amounting in net weight to nearly 60,000,000 

 pounds, compared with about 11,000,000 pounds for 

 all other fishery products. Even if the oyster catch is 

 considered on the basis of gross weight at an average 

 of 80 pounds per bushel, instead of on the basis of con- 

 tained meat, the menhaden catch is still in excess of 

 all other products in the ratio of approximately 30,000 

 net tons to 19,000 net tons. 



Products, by class of fisheries. Table 2, on page 99, 

 gives the products of the vessel fisheries, distributed 

 according to apparatus of capture. The vessel fishery 

 products were limited practically to menhaden and 

 oysters. With the exception of the products of the 

 menhaden and oyster fisheries which are shown in 

 Table 2, and the small amount of shad and squeteague 

 shown in the same table, all the products given in 

 Table 1, on page 99, were reported by the shore and 

 boat fisheries. Of these species, the portions belong- 

 ing to the shore and boat fisheries were as follows: 

 Menhaden, 54,000 pounds, valued at $2,400; shad, 

 868,000 pounds, valued at $68,000; squeteague, 

 2,587,000 pounds, valued at $29,000; market oysters 

 from public areas, 159,000 pounds (representing 

 23,000 bushels), valued at $8,400; market oysters 

 from private areas, 28,000 pounds (representing 4,000 

 bushels), valued at $1,000; and seed oysters from pub- 

 lic areas, 338,000 pounds (representing 48,000 bushels), 

 valued at $12,000. The total products of the shore 

 and boat fisheries in 1908 were 9,092,000 pounds, 

 having a value of $244,000. Of these products, 

 4,327,000 pounds, having a value of $69,000, were 

 caught with seines; 1,073,000 pounds, having a value of 



