FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



213 



of the total value. The values of the menhaden and 

 oyster products each formed about 40 per cent of the 

 value reported for vessel fisheries. Next to these the 

 most valuable product was shad, which had a value of 

 $13,000, or 8 per cent of the value credited to this 

 class of fisheries. 



1 Less than $100. 



The value of fish proper constituted 81 per cent of 

 the total value of the catch in the case of shore and 

 boat fisheries and 61 per cent in the case of vessel 

 fisheries. Two-thirds of the value of the fish taken in 

 the vessel fisheries represented the value of menhaden. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. The following 

 tabular statement shows the distribution by appa- 

 ratus of capture, arranged in the order of the value of 

 their catch, of the total value of products, for the 

 state as a whole and for each class of fisheries : 



i Less than $100. 



The products caught by seines contributed a larger 

 part of the weight and value of the total fishery prod- 

 ucts than those taken by any other form of apparatus. 

 Their value constituted 33 per cent of the total value 

 of all products and their weight 70 per cent of the 

 total quantity. The chief species caught by seines 

 were mullet, squeteague, menhaden, black bass, ale- 

 wives, and shad. Slightly more than five-sixths of 



the value of the products taken by this form of appa- 

 ratus was secured from the shore and boat fisheries. 



On the basis of the 'value of the product taken, 

 pound nets, trap nets, and weirs formed the next most 

 important class of fishing apparatus. Since 1880, 

 when only 117 pound nets were used, this kind of 

 apparatus has increased in importance, until in 1908, 

 3,997 pound nets, trap nets, and weirs were in use. 

 The value of the product obtained by pound nets, in- 

 cluding the comparatively small quantities taken by 

 trap nets and weirs, amounted to $391,000, or 22 per 

 cent of the value of all fishery products. These forms 

 of apparatus were used only in the shore and boat 

 fisheries and principally in the capture of shad and 

 ale wives. 



Gill nets ranked second in importance with respect 

 to the value of the product taken in 1902 and third 

 in 1908. They were of little consequence in the 

 vessel fisheries, but were extensively used in the shore 

 and boat fisheries for catching shad, squeteague, 

 mullet, bluefish, and numerous less important species. 

 Dredges, tongs, and rakes yielded a product valued at 

 $307,000, which consisted of olams, oysters, and crabs. 

 Crab nets, lines, and bow nets followed in rank accord- 

 ing to the value of product taken. The use of crab 

 nets and bow nets was confined to the shore and boat 

 fisheries, to which 88 per cent of the value of the catch 

 by lines is also credited. With, fyke nets various spe- 

 cies of fish, having a total value of $8,600, were taken 

 in the shore and boat fisheries. 



Shad. Shad has always been the chief product of 

 the fisheries of North Carolina, and in 1908 the total 

 catch was 3,942,000 pounds, valued at $373,000. This 

 catch, however, contributed only 4 per cent of the 

 total weight and 21 per cent of the total value of the 

 fishery products of the state. The quantity was 40 

 per cent less than in 1902, but the "value was only 3 

 per cent less than in that year. In 1902 the state 

 ranked first hi the shad catch, reporting 6,567,000 

 pounds, valued at $385,000; but in 1908 it was out- 

 ranked by Virginia, both in the quantity and the value 

 of shad taken. Of the total value of the catch of shad, 

 96 per cent was that of product obtained in the shore 

 and boat fisheries, principally by means of pound nets 

 and gill nets, though to some extent by seines and 

 other apparatus. The quantity caught in the vessel 

 fisheries, representing 4 per cent of the value, was 

 obtained entirely by the use of seines and gill nets. 

 This fish was taken chiefly in Cape Fear River and its 

 tributaries, in Pamlico, Croatan, Roanoke, and Albe- 

 marle Sounds, and in the rivers tributary to these 

 sounds. 



Oysters. The oyster yield ranked second in value, 

 the total product in 1908 being 813,000 bushels, 

 valued at $236,000. This represents a decrease, as 

 compared with 1902, when 1,023,000 bushels were 

 obtained, having a value of $268,000. The average 

 price per bushel, however, increased from 26 cents in 

 1902 to 30 cents in 1908. Very little progress has been 



