98 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



$85,000, with gill nets; and 531,000 pounds, having a 

 value of $23,000, with dredges and tongs, and the re- 

 mainder with the other forms of apparatus as specified 

 in Table 1, page 99. The chief products of the shore 

 and boat fisheries were in the order of value: shad, 

 $68,000; squeteague, $29,000; muskrats and muskrat 

 skins, $24,000; oysters, $21,000; eels, $15,000; and 

 white perch, $14,000. 



The distribution of the catch by chief products and 

 by class of fisheries was as follows: 



Products, by apparatus of capture. The total value 

 of the fishery products was distributed according to 

 apparatus of capture as follows : 



The catch in seines led in value and constituted 

 nine-tenths of all products in quantity. The chief 

 species caught in this way were menhaden and sque- 

 teague. The products taken by dredges and tongs 

 consisted almost entirely of oysters. Shad, sturgeon, 

 and striped bass were the leading species taken with 

 gill nets ; and catfish and carp the leading species taken 

 with fyke and hoop nets. 



Oysters. The oyster yield was 348,000 bushels, 

 valued at $169,000, and contributed 31 per cent of 

 the value of all products. Of the total quantity, 

 155,000 bushels were market oysters, chiefly from pri- 

 vate areas, and 193,000 bushels seed oysters, almost 

 entirely from public areas. The distribution of the 

 oyster product is shown by the following tabular 

 statement: 



OYSTER PRODUCT: 1908. 



Oysters from private areas averaged much higher 

 in value than those from public areas, the market 

 oysters from private areas having an average value of 

 79 cents per bushel, compared with 40 cents for those 

 from public areas. Of the market oysters, 83 per 

 cent, in quantity, were from private areas, while 96 

 per cent of the seed oysters were from public areas 

 and but 4 per cent from private areas. 



Other shellfish. The clam product consisted of 900 

 bushels of hard clams, of a value of $1,300, while the 

 lobster product, likewise small, amounted to 5,500 

 pounds, valued at $800. The crab catch, it should be 

 noted, included a large quantity of king or horseshoe 

 crabs, which are used chiefly as fertilizers. The food 

 crabs comprised soft-shell crabs, valued at $8,400, and 

 hard-shell crabs, valued at $600. 



Squeteague and shad. The squeteague, or sea trout, 

 is the most abundant of the food fishes, and in quantity 

 the catch formed nearly one-half of them. In value, 

 however, it was greatly exceeded by shad, which rep- 

 resented nearly two-fifths of the value of all food-fish 

 products, although only one-eighth of their quantity. 

 The bulk of the squeteague catch was made with seines 

 and the bulk of the shad catch with gill nets. 



Muskrats. The muskrat industry was important, 

 inasmuch as it not only contributed products of a 

 considerable amount but furnished employment, in 

 whole or in part, to a large number of men. The ani- 

 mal is trapped chiefly for its skin. The meat, however, 

 is used to a considerable extent, the sale of 110,000 

 pounds, valued at $3,800, being reported in 1908. The 

 value of this meat has been included in the sum of 

 $24,000 shown in the tables as the value of muskrat 

 skins. The method of reporting muskrats varied 

 greatly. In most cases the number or W T eight of the 

 skins was reported and their value, regardless of 

 whether they were sold alone and the carcasses dis- 

 carded, or the animals were sold entire, or the skins 

 and carcasses were marketed separately. Hence for 

 the purpose of tabulation the total value in the gen- 

 eral tables has been credited to the skins. The average 

 value of a muskrat carcass was 5 cents and of a skin 

 from 25 to 30 cents. 



