FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



251 



VIRGINIA. 



In the total value of fishery products Virginia had 

 second place in 1908 among the states in which com- 

 mercial fisheries were carried on, and in the value of its 

 shad, menhaden, alewife, croaker, caviar, sturgeon, 

 crab, and hard -clam products it ranked first. The 

 taking of oysters was the most important branch of the 

 fishing industry of the state, the product being valued 

 at $2,348,000. The shad and menhaden products 

 ranked next in importance, each being valued at 

 between four and five hundred thousand dollars, while 

 clams and crabs followed in rank, the product of each 

 having a value in excess of $300,000. Though fish- 

 eries are conducted at nearly every available point 

 along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to the 

 Maryland line, the most important fisheries of the 

 state are in the waters of Chesapeake Bay and its tribu- 

 taries. This latter district covers an extensive area, 

 comprising not only the waters of Chesapeake Bay, but 

 also Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds and the tidal 

 waters of the Potomac, Wicomico, Rappahannock, 

 York, and James Rivers. 



The following statement gives a general summary of 

 the statistics of the industry in Virginia in 1908 : 



Number of persons employed 20, 066 



Capital: 



Vessels and boats, including outfit $2, 065, 000 



Apparatus of capture 485, 000 



Shore and accessory property and cash 434, 000 



Value of products 4, 716, 000 



Comparison with 'previous canvasses. Comparative 

 statistics for years for which figures are available are 

 given hi the next tabular statement. 



In the total value of equipment and in the quantity 

 of products increases are shown at each canvass from 

 1891 to 1904. The value of the product in 1904 was 

 76 per cent greater than that in 1897. The figures for 



1908, however, show a decrease in every item as com- 

 pared with the figures for the preceding canvass. In 

 1908 there were 3,298 fewer persons employed, exclu- 

 sive of shoresmen, than in 1904, a decrease of 14 per 

 cent. The decline in the total value of equipment 

 was 95,000, or only 4 per cent. The value reported 

 for fishing and transporting vessels, including outfits, 

 decreased from $1,502,000 in 1904 to $1,332,000 in 

 1908, but as the value of boats increased during 

 the same years from $591,000 in 1904 to $733,000 in 

 1908, the total amount of capital represented by ves- 

 sels, including outfits and boats, changed very little, 

 namely, from $2,093,000 in 1904 to $2,065,000 in 1908, 

 The increase in the number of motor boats has been 

 marked, 1,066 power boats being reported in 1908, as 

 compared with only 38 in 1904. The value of appara- 

 tus of capture decreased $67,000, or 12 per cent, while 

 the products showed a decrease from 1904 to 1908 of 

 16 per cent in value and 12 per cent in quantity. 



Persons employed. In 1908 the fisheries of Virginia 

 gave employment to 20,066 persons. The number of 

 persons employed has gradually declined since 1897, 

 when it was larger than in any other year for which 

 statistics are available. 



The following table presents statistics relating to 

 persons employed in 1908: 



PERSONS EMPLOYED: 1908. 



' Exclusive of 277 proprietors not fishing. 



i Includes provisions furnished to the value of $145,000. 



