FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



147 



The heavy catch of menhaden stood relatively low in 

 value, and was exceeded in this respect by striped 

 bass, squeteague, and muskrat skins. 



Products, by fishing grounds. Table 2, on page 150, 

 gives the products of the Maryland fisheries in the 

 Chesapeake Bay district by species and by apparatus 

 of capture, and Table 3, on page 151, gives similar 

 statistics for the Maryland fisheries of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, all of which were of the shore and boat class. 

 For the Chesapeake Bay district the leading products, 

 in the order of value, were the same as those already 

 noted for the state, namely, oysters, crabs, shad, and 

 alewives; while for the Atlantic Ocean fisheries the 

 leading products with respect to value were squeteague, 

 oysters, sturgeon (including caviar), and yellow perch, 

 in the order named. 



1 Less than $100. 



2 Includes products valued as follows: Terrapin, $4,900; frogs, $500; turtles, $400; 

 squid, $200; and sea grass, $1,700. 



Products, ly class of fisheries. Table 4, on page 151, 

 gives the products for 1908, by species and by appa- 

 ratus of capture, for the vessel fisheries of the state, 

 all of which are confined to the Chesapeake Bay dis- 

 trict, and Table 5, on page 152, gives similar data for 

 the shore and boat fisheries. In the latter the four 

 leading species oysters, crabs, shad, and alewives 

 aggregated 81,019,000 pounds, or 94 per cent of the 

 total product, and their combined value was $2,226,000, 

 or 88 per cent of the total. Oysters alone contributed 

 89 per cent to the total value of products of the vessel 

 fisheries and 61 per cent to the total value of products 

 of the shore and boat fisheries. Of the value of the 

 Maryland oyster product, 31 per cent was reported by 

 the vessel fisheries and 69 per cent by the shore and 

 boat fisheries. Practically the entire catch of men- 

 haden was made by vessels. With the exception of 

 oysters and menhaden, the catch by vessels was small, 



compared with that of the shore and boat fisheries. 

 The products of the shore and boat fisheries of the 

 Chesapeake Bay district, which in the aggregate 

 amounted to 83,247,000 pounds, having a value of 

 $2,420,000, can readily be ascertained by subtracting 

 the items of Table 4 from the corresponding items of 

 Table 2 giving the total products of the Chesapeake 

 Bay district. 



The tabular statement immediately preceding shows 

 the distribution of the value of products reported for 

 the leading species between the vessel fisheries and the 

 shore and boat fisheries. 



Products, ly apparatus of capture. All but 5 per 

 cent of the total products, increased by value, was 

 taken with the five classes of apparatus specified in 

 the following tabular statement: 



On account of the large oyster catch, dredges, tongs, 

 etc., are by far the most important apparatus of cap- 

 ture in both the vessel and the shore and boat fisheries 

 of Chesapeake Bay; but in the Atlantic Ocean fish- 

 eries the largest catch was credited to pound and trap 

 nets. For the fisheries of the state pound and trap 

 nets are second in importance as apparatus of capture, 

 and are used for taking a large number of species. 

 Alewives made up the bulk of/ the catch, contributing 

 82 per cent of the total weight and 32 per cent of 

 the total value; shad stood second, following closely 

 in value, although the weight of this product was only 

 one-fifteenth as great as that of the alewife catch; and 

 squeteague was third. 



Oysters. The oyster product of Maryland for 1908 

 was substantially greater than that for 1904 but less 

 than that for 1897. The yield for 1904 was abnor- 

 mally small, a fact attributed by some authorities to 

 the two exceptionally cold winters just preceding, 

 which killed many of the oysters. The value of the 

 product, however, steadily decreased from $2,885,000 

 in 1897 to $2,418,000 in 1904 and to $2,228,000 in 1908. 

 This decrease of $657,000, or 23 per cent, in the value 

 of the oyster product during the 11 years from 1897 

 to 1908 contrasts sharply with an increase of $345,000, 

 or 47 per cent, in the aggregate value of all other 

 fishery products during the same period. From 1904 

 to 1908, however, the decrease in the value of the 

 oyster yield, which amounted to $189,000, or 8 per 



