140 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



The following tabular statement shows the number 

 of various kinds of apparatus reported. No returns 

 were made of the number of lines, dredges, tongs, etc. 



Products, by species. The fisheries of the state of 

 Maine yielded, in 1908, 173,843,000 pounds of products, 

 with a value of $3,257,000. Along the coast sunken 

 ledges and rocks, the habitat of various marine ani- 

 mals that serve as food for many of the most important 

 food fishes, are the resort of the cod, haddock, hake 

 and other species known as "ground fish." The 

 rocky character of the coast makes it especially suitable 

 for the growth of lobsters, and the breeding of them 

 is carried on in practically every locality along the 

 coast and has become by far the most important 

 branch of the fishing industry of the state. In 1908 

 the lobster product contributed 39 per cent of the total 

 value of all fishery products of the state. In point 

 of value the cod product ranked next, but this fur- 

 nished only 13 per cent of the value of all fishery 

 products, or little more than one-third as much as the 

 lobster product. Herring ranked third in value, the 

 large number of these fish caught being utilized mainly 

 in sardine canneries and smokehouses. The soft- 

 clam industry is also important and its products ranked 

 fourth in value among those of the fisheries of the 

 state; but oysters thus far have not been successfully 

 propagated in the waters of Maine. The other impor- 

 tant classes of product, in order of value reported, 

 were haddock, hake, scallop, pollack, and smelt. The 

 products distributed by species and by apparatus of 

 capture are shown in Table 1, on page 143. 



Products, by class of fisheries. The distribution of 

 the value of products between the vessel fisheries and 

 the shore and boat fisheries is given in the next tab- 

 ular statement. 



The products in detail, by species and apparatus of 

 capture, are presented for the vessel fisheries in Table 

 3, on page 145, and for the shore and boat fisheries in 

 Table 2, on page 144. 



The vessel fisheries, while of considerable impor- 

 tance, are much less extensive than the shore and boat 

 fisheries. In 1908 the catch reported for the former 

 was 52,724,000 pounds, valued at $898,000, or about 

 30 per cent of the total quantity and 28 per cent of the 

 total value for the state. The shore and boat fisheries 



reported a catch of 121,119,000 pounds, valued at 

 $2,359,000, or about 70 per cent of the total quantity 

 and 72 per cent of the total value for the state. 



In the vessel fisheries the combined catch of cod, 

 herring, haddock, hake, swordfish, and lobsters was 

 valued at $742,000, or 83 per cent of the total value of 

 the products of those fisheries. In the shore and boat 

 fisheries the value of the lobster catch represented 48 

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

 proper constituted 80 per cent of the total value in the 

 case of vessel fisheries and 39 per cent in the case of 

 shore and boat fisheries. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. The following 

 tabular statement shows the distribution of the value 

 of the fishery products taken by each kind of appa- 

 ratus for the state as a whole and for each class of 

 fisheries: 



In consequence of the fact that the lobster is the 

 most important product of the fisheries of Maine, the 

 products caught by means of eel and lobster pots 

 show the largest value. Lines ranked second in 

 value of the catch. They are used very generally 

 along the coast of Maine, and nearly all the important 

 species of fish, except herring, shad, and such large 

 fish as sturgeon and swordfish, are caught by this 

 apparatus. 



Pound nets, trap nets, and weirs followed lines in 

 importance as apparatus of capture. All of these 



