168 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



large sized fish, has taken place. Since the opening of the 

 Erie Canal and the increase of population and business 

 consequent thereupon, an increasing demand for this article 

 has grown up in that quarter; so that the New York and 

 Albany markets, which previously required only a few 

 thousand quintals for their annual supply, now afford a de- 

 mand for nearly 150,000 quintals. The foreign export has 

 diminished in a ratio proportionate to the increase of the 

 domestic demand. ' ' 1 



The total amount of exports of pickled fish from 1819 to 

 1851 was 1,830,353 barrels and 139,557 kegs. The aggre- 

 gate value of these exports for the years named was $7,289,- 

 783, an annual average of $220,902. The average annual 

 value of exports of dried, smoked and pickled fish during 

 the same period was $894,624, and the aggregate value of 

 all kinds of fish exported for that period reached a total 

 of $29,522,628. 2 A comparison of these figures with the 

 total value of our exports of fish for the thirty years pre- 

 ceding 1819 shows a falling off of about fifty per cent from 

 the earlier totals, a decline that was due, as indicated above, 

 to an increased demand for fish in our domestic markets. 



The amount and value of the fish used for the home con- 

 sumption can not be given for any number of years with 

 accuracy. The statistics for the year 1840 afford a basis 

 for a close estimate of fish products consumed at home. In 

 that year the fisheries of the country produced 773,947 

 quintals of dried and smoked fish, and 472,360 barrels of 

 pickled fish. 3 Of the exports, the 211,425 quintals of dried 

 fish sold at $2.55 per quintal, and the 43,400 barrels of 

 pickled fish sold at $4.12 per barrel.* Estimated at the 

 same prices, the total value of the fisheries for 1840 was 



1 Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 58, pp. 69-70. 



2 Compiled from Sabine's .Report, pp. 176-178. 



3 Hunt, Merchant's Magazine, VI, p. 364. 

 * Ibid, IX, pp. 87-88. 



