154 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



and the number in vessel fisheries were only about 

 one-half as great. The number of wage-earners in 

 the shore and boat fisheries was about the same in 

 Suffolk County as in Essex County. Nearly three- 

 fourths (73 per cent) of the vessel fishermen were 

 found in Essex and Suffolk Counties and nearly two- 

 thirds (63 per cent) of the shore and boat fishermen 

 were found in the group comprising the other counties. 

 Equipment and other capital. The following table 

 gives, by county districts, the value of equipment and 

 the amount of other capital employed in the fisheries 

 of Massachusetts: 



The investment of Massachusetts in the fishing 

 industry was larger than that of any other state, com- 

 prising 14 per cent of the total for the United States. 

 Practically three-fourths (74 per cent) of the total state 

 investment was in fishing vessels and their outfits. 

 The total value of vessels and boats in this state was 

 more than double that in the state next in rank, 

 Virginia, and formed 19 per cent of the total invest- 

 ment in vessels and boats for the United States. In 

 the value of boats alone and of apparatus of capture, 

 however, Massachusetts was outranked by several 

 states in which shore and boat fisheries were more 

 prominent. Apparatus of capture represented 13 per 

 cent of the Massachusetts investment, having a value 

 higher than the value of boats and of shore and acces- 

 sory property combined with cash capital. 



The value of all sailing vessels, including outfits, was 

 between four and five times that of steam vessels, being 

 $3,501,000, as compared with $781,000. Among the 

 boats, however, power-driven craft contributed 79 per 

 cent of the total value. 



The following table gives detailed statistics concern- 

 ing the number and tonnage of vessels and the number 

 of boats : 



Of the investment in apparatus of capture, approx- 

 imately two-thirds was in the vessel fisheries and one- 

 third in the shore and boat fisheries. The distribution 

 of the several kinds of apparatus by districts and by 

 class of fisheries is given in the following tabular 

 statement : 



1 Includes otter trawls. 



Products, by species. Table l,on page 159, gives the 

 fishery products of the state, "by species and by appa- 

 ratus of capture. 



Sixty distinct species were represented, the most 

 important being cod, haddock, and mackerel, which 

 together contributed 53 per cent of the value of all 

 fishery products of the state. The cod and the had- 

 dock catch each exceeded a million dollars in value. 

 For eight other products clams (including all three 

 varieties, hard, soft, and razor), herring, pollack, hali- 

 but, lobsters, sperm oil, hake, and oysters values in 

 excess of $200,000 were reported. The value reported 

 for the 11 species named formed 86 per cent of the 

 total value of products. Flounders, swordfish, and 

 scallops had values in excess of $100,000. 



Products, by county districts. The fishery products, 

 by principal species and by county districts, are given 



