FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



255 



areas and 47 cents for those from public areas. The 

 average price of seed oysters was 27 conts per bushel. 

 The following tabular statement, giving the quan- 

 tity, value, and average price per bushel of Virginia 

 oysters for several years, indicates that the product 

 has been decreasing in quantity since 1901 : 



Tonging was the more usual method of fishing for 

 oysters, but dredges also were used to some extent. 

 Though oyster fishing was carried on extensively in 

 the Atlantic Ocean district by means of vessels and 

 boats, the value of the product obtained from the 

 shore and boat fisheries of Chesapeake Bay and its 

 tributary waters was much greater than that of the 

 entire oyster product of the former district. 



Shad. Shad ranked next to oysters in value and 

 was the most important species of fish caught. The 

 Virginia catch was the largest in the country in 1908, 

 weighing 7,314,000 pounds and being valued at 

 $486,000, or about one-fourth of the entire quantity 

 and value of the shad caught in the waters of the 

 United States. Its value formed 10 per cent of the 

 value of all fishery products of the state. The catch 

 in 1908 was slightly smaller in quantity but greater in 

 value than that in 1904, which was 7,420,000 pounds, 

 valued at $440,000. 



The following tabular statement shows the quantity 

 and value of the catch of shad for certain years from 

 1880 to 1908: 



According to the reports of the fishermen, the de- 

 crease of shad in the rivers tributary to Chesapeake 

 Bay, shown in previous reports of the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries, continues. This fish is caught mainly by means 

 of pound nets and gill nets in the shore and boat fisher- 

 ies of Chesapeake Bay and its tributary waters. Less 

 than 1 per cent of the total value of shad represents 

 product taken in the Atlantic coast fisheries. 



Menhaden. The menhaden product of Virginia 

 amounted to 190,089,000 pounds, valued at $429,000, 



and represented nearly half of the total weight and 

 value of all the menhaden caught in the United States. 

 The catch was considerably less than in 1904, b'ut was 

 larger than in 1897 or any previous year for which sta- 

 tistics are available, as is shown by the following 

 tabular statement: 



catch was from the Chesapeake Bay district, chiefly 

 from its vessel fisheries. 



Clams. The value of the hard-clam product of 

 Virginia exceeded that reported for any other state, 

 though the New Jersey product exceeded the Virginia 

 product in quantity. In 1908 the Virginia yield was 

 246,000 "bushels, valued at $380,000. Up to 1901 the 

 yield was increasing regularly"; but since that year, 

 though the value has continued to increase, there has 

 been some fluctuation in the quantity. The following 

 tabular statement gives statistics of the product for 

 certain years from 1890 to 1908: 



Clams are essentially a product of the shore and 

 boat fisheries. Fifty-seven per cent of the value of 

 the Virginia catch represents the value of clams taken 

 in the Chesapeake Bay district. 



Crabs. Though ranking only fifth with respect to 

 value among the fishery products of Virginia, the total 

 crab product of the state surpassed in value that of any 

 other state. Virginia ranked first in the yield of hard 

 crabs and second only to Maryland in the yield of soft 

 crabs. In 1908 the total crab product, all of which 

 came from Chesapeake Bay and its tributary waters, was 

 $25,083,000 pounds, valued at $326,000. This formed 

 nearly 50 per cent of the total quantity and its value 

 more than one-third of the total value of all hard and 

 soft crabs taken in the country. The industry has 

 grown steadily since 1890; the product increased 

 129 per cent in value from 1901 to 1904, and 104 per 

 cent in quantity and 19 per cent in value from 1904 to 

 1908. Statistics as to the yield in earlier years are 

 given in the following tabular statement: 



