504 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Bay and vicinity, where from $75,000 to $100,000 a year is realized 
by the fishermen from their capture. The general public appreciate 
the superior qualities of these fish, which they have at all seasons of the 
year, at prices lower than the same species bring at any of the mar- 
kets of the Atlantic coast. 
The general fresh-fish business shows a continual increase. At first 
supplying only a small local demand, it has grown to large propor- 
tions with the rapid growth of some sections and the improvement 
of transportation facilities, and has extended through the interior as 
far as Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona and, to a limited extent, 
into Mexico. 
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COMMON SHAD, Alosa sapidissima., Female. 
The salt cod-fish business shows a slower yet steady growth, with 
possibilities for a largely increased demand from the more distant new 
possessions of the Government. 
The whale fisheries of the Pacific are an exception to the general 
growth of the fisheries, showing but few changes from year to year. 
Sperm whales are said to be increasing in number, and little is now 
thought of a take of 1,000 barrels in a cruise of a few weeks, while 
formerly it took a year or longer to produce the same quantity. The 
low prices of oil and the expense and uncertainty of a catch of whales 
yielding the valuable whalebone in the more distant and dangerous 
