222 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



i Exclusive of 31 proprietors not fishing. 



Of the total number of persons employed in the 

 fisheries of the state, 79 per cent were credited to the 

 Columbia River district and 21 per cent to the Pacific 

 coast district. Wage-earners constituted nearly two- 

 thirds of the total number employed, and the amount' 

 disbursed in wages was equal to more than one-third 

 of the total value of products. The wage-earners 

 engaged in shore and boat fishing formed 96 per cent 

 of all wage-earners, and received 95 per cent of the 

 total wages paid. 



Equipment and other capital. The distribution of 

 the value of equipment and of the amount of other 

 capital employed in the Oregon fisheries in 1908 is 

 given below. 



No vessels were engaged in fishing in the state during 

 the year, all vessels reported being used exclusively 

 for transporting fish and fish products. Vessels thus 

 engaged numbered 44, with a total net tonnage of 565. 

 Seven of these, having a tonnage of 78, were engaged 

 in the Pacific coast fisheries, while the 37 vessels 

 reported for the Columbia River district in 1908 were 

 employed on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. 

 In 1904 the number of transporting vessels reported 

 was 35, valued at $116,000, and the value of their 

 outfit was $14,000. The number of boats reported 



'Includes provisions furnished to the value of $12,000. 



was 2,312, which comprised 216 steam and motor 

 boats, 1,528 sailboats, 523 rowboats, and 45 scows. 

 Of these several kinds of boats, the Columbia River 

 district reported 198, 1,355, 191, and 31, respectively. 

 The investment in boats of all kinds shows an increase 

 of 54 per cent since 1904. 



The proportion of the capital invested in apparatus 

 of capture is large, on account of the expensive seines 

 and nets used in the salmon fisheries and the great 

 expense of constructing and locating the wheels used 

 on the Columbia River. 



The nets, traps, seines, and wheels reported were 

 distributed as follows: 



i All reported by shore and boat fisheries. 



Gill nets are used principally in the salmon fisheries. 

 The number reported in 1908 represents an increase in 

 the four years between the two canvasses of 1,350, or 

 51 per cent, as compared with the number in 1904 

 2,631. Thirty wheels were reported in 1904 and 31 in 

 1908. They were all located on the Columbia River 

 and their catch in 1908 included salmon and sturgeon. 

 The seines reported in 1908 numbered 100, as com- 

 pared with 50 in 1904. Of those reported in 1908, 58 

 were in use in the Columbia River district and 42 in 

 other waters. Those employed in the Columbia River 

 fisheries were large seines of an average value of 

 nearly $700, while the seines used in other waters 

 averaged but $100 each in value. No pound nets 

 were reported by the Bureau of Fisheries in 1904. 



