228 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



fisheries, had a value nearly as great as the combined 

 value of all other fish. 



VALUE OF PRODUCTS: 1908. 



Statistics concerning the products of the vessel fish- 

 eries of the Delaware River and Bay district are pre- 

 sented in the following tabular statement: 



1 Includes apparatus, with catch, as follows: Dredges, tongs, etc., 1,938,000 

 pounds, valued at $176.000; lines, 959,000 pounds, valued at $47,000; and gill nets, 

 8,400 pounds, valued at $2,600. 



s 129,000 bushels. 



' 148,000 bushels. 



Oysters were the principal species reported for the 

 vessel fisheries of this district and represented 78 per 

 cent of the value of their catch. The remaining 22 per 

 cent of the total value was contributed by eight species 

 of fish proper, all of which, with the exception of stur- 

 geon, were taken with lines. 



Ths next tabular statement gives the statistics of 

 the products of shore and boat fisheries of the Dela- 

 ware River and Bay district. 



The chief products of the shore and boat fisheries of 

 this district were, in point of value, shad and alewives, 

 both fresh and salted. The value of these two species 

 together constituted 90 per cent of the total value of 

 the catch. Gill nets and seines were the principal 

 apparatus of capture used in this class of fisheries. 



Statistics as to the products of the vessel fisheries 

 and the shore and boat fisheries of Lake Erie are pre- 

 sented in Table 3 , on page 231. From a reference to this 

 it will be seen that in both classes of fisheries blue pike, 

 lake herring, and whitefish, in the order named, were 

 the most important products as regards both quantity 

 and value. 



1 Includes eel pots, with catch of 4,200 pounds, valued at $300. 



2 Less than $100. 



As already indicated, the Susquehanna River fish- 

 eries were all of the shore and boat class. 



Products, ~by apparatus of capture. The following 

 tabular statement indicates the distribution, by appa- 

 ratus of capture arranged in the order of the value of 

 their catch, of the value of products for the different 

 fishery districts and for the two classes of fisheries, 

 respectively. Gill nets took products valued at 46 per 

 cent of the total value, and these were the most 

 important form of apparatus in the Lake Erie district, 

 where the catch by lines and pound and trap nets con- 

 tributed less than 7 per cent of the total value of prod- 

 ucts. Dredges, tongs, etc., which were used only in 

 the Delaware River and Bay district, took products 

 having a value equal to 69 per cent of the total for this 

 district and 34 per cent of the total for the state. In 

 the Susquehanna River district the largest value of 

 products, 46 per cent of the total for the district, was 

 reported for dip and bow nets, the use of which was 

 confined to this district. 



Oysters. The yield of oysters in 1908, which repre- 

 sented 34 per cent of the total value of products, was 

 larger than that in any previous year. The product 

 was entirely from Delaware Bay; all the market oys- 

 ters were taken from private beds, and all the seed 

 oysters from public areas. 



