FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



133 



i Less than $100. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. The distribution 

 of the total value of products by apparatus of capture 

 for 1908, for the state as a whole and for the two classes 

 of fisheries, was as follows: 



Dredges, tongs, etc., were the principal apparatus of 

 capture used in both classes of fisheries of the Gulf dis- 

 trict. Except for a very small quantity of periwinkles, 

 oysters were the only species taken by this kind of 

 apparatus. The proportions given below for oysters 

 apply in full to the product taken with dredges, 

 tongs, etc. 



The weight and value of the product taken by seines 

 made them second in importance as an apparatus of 

 capture in the entire state and in each branch of the 

 Gulf fisheries. Seines were used for taking 30 species, 

 chief of which were shrimp, squeteague (or sea trout), 

 and buffalo fish. The value of the catch by this form 

 of apparatus represented nine-tenths of the value of the 

 shrimp taken in the state, more than two-thirds of the 

 value of the squeteague, and more than one-half of the 

 value of the buffalo fish. Practically all of the shrimp 

 taken either in the vessel fisheries or in the shore and 

 boat fisheries of the Gulf district and practically all of 

 the squeteague taken in the vessel fisheries were 

 caught with seines. Of the squeteague product taken 

 by the shore and boat fisheries, 74 per cent of the 

 quantity was taken by seines. In 1897 seines showed 

 a product slightly heavier than that of tongs, but the 

 value of the catch was not relatively as important as 

 in 1908. 



Lines were third in importance as apparatus of cap- 

 ture in the shore and boat fisheries of the Gulf district 

 and in the fisheries of the state as a whole. They 

 ranked first in the Mississippi River fisheries, but 

 were not employed in the vessel fisheries. Twenty- 

 two species made up the catch by lines for the state; 

 yet one species, catfish, contributed 58 per cent of the 

 value of this product, as well as 50 per cent of the 

 value of the product of the shore and boat fisheries of 

 the Gulf. In 1897 the total catch by lines was 

 3,150,000 pounds, valued at $64,000, almost three- 

 fifths as much as the quantity reported in 1908, but 

 representing a value less than a third as great. 



A great many other kinds of apparatus of capture 

 were used to take the remainder of the product, which 

 was valued at $203,000 and represented about one- 

 eighth of the value for the entire state. The most 

 important of these kinds of apparatus were fyke and 

 hoop nets, which took products valued at $32,000, 

 and shrimp nets and dip nets, which took products 

 valued at $19,000 and $15,000, respectively. To 

 minor apparatus $20,000 was credited. 



The following tabular statement shows the distribu- 

 tion of the total value of fishery products, by apparatus 

 of capture, between the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Mississippi River districts : 



Oysters. In 1908 the Louisiana oyster product 

 amounted to 3,650,000 bushels, or, computed on the 

 basis of contained meat, 25,553,000 pounds, valued at 

 $763,000. That this product represents a remarkable 

 growth over previous years is shown by the following 

 tabular statement: 



The gain in the quantity of oysters between 1897 and 

 1908 constitutes two- thirds of the gain in the entire 

 fishery product of the state, while for the period from 



