722 
REPORT 
OF 
COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Table showing the extent of the wholesale fishery trade of Iowa in 1899. 
as Clinton and Paes 
Dubuque. Bellevue. Davenport. Muscatine. 
Items S _ ee aa} See ese Ble. 
No. Value. No | Value. No. | Value. No. | Value. 
Establishments .......-. 2! $2,500 | 2 | $1,500 | 3 | $7,000 2) $2,500 
@ashicapital. <2... 22)-cme lan ceceieniec Dei see eae | aL pOO0M escent S2D00K sees eee 5, 000 
Persons engaged........ ill \eissiwe cise eR Di eeceree i oD eee Bill acer 
Products sold: | Nt y 7 man 
Fresh fish....pounds.., 314,980 | 16,093 | 241,684 | 10,839 | 543,650 | 25,262 | 394,864 | 17,156 
Oygtersic..c-2 gallons. .| 5, 500 Wd DO | oe eerertivee Beoussee 9,500 | 12, 050 5, 000 6, 500 
Turtles ...... pounds..|..........]- Breer Pep oe ere Pere nl oe ere 9,200 115 
Value of products.|.......... eee ere 10, 839 | Ree 87, 812 |e. 2 ccs. 23, 771 
| ena hey eatin Fort Sioux City. Total. 
Items. ee ne aeons aoe _| 
No. Value No. Value. | No. Value. 
Establishments .............22.----- 3 | $9, 600 | 2| $13, 600 | 14 | $36, 700 
(GASH CA DL inloN seas see a oe ee es eee Seve 1 DOO! eeseeses- 175000: | Soccsecscses 46, 000 
Persons engaged.................-..- Al ae aie | Gl Rocseecee BCE Rosacea: 
Products sold: | 7 oe ie a 
Hréshitis Men tos-e eee pounds..| 1,137,747 | 49,735 588, 998 02,540 | 3,221,923 | 171,625 
OYStCTS, isaac cetie oo ettante gallons.. 18, 500 24,050 | = 85, 860 48, 761 | 74, 360 98, 511 
MUTHES Jo sscc cen mesincicmc OU S Ses |e eee ee eee eee see | oniceine 9, 200 115 
Value of products............. liseretapaeyame eer 73, 785 | ee eee 101; 301 | Scoeaeseecee 270, 251 
WISCONSIN. 
The fisheries of Wisconsin in the Mississippi and its tributary, the 
St. Croix River, were engaged in by 567 persons, and the amount of 
‘apital invested was $37,825. The products consisted of 976,735 
pounds of fish of various species, valued at $22,029, and 16,260,000 
pounds of mussel shells, with a value, including $4,800 worth of pearls 
and 3,900 worth of baroque pearls, of $66,110. The most important 
food-fishes were buffalo-fish, German carp, cat-fish, and sturgeon. 
The greatest change that has taken place in the fisheries of this 
State in the Mississippi River since the last canvass in 1894 has been 
the development of the mussel fishery, now the most important fish- 
ery prosecuted on the river in Wisconsin. Prairie du Chien was the 
center of this industry in the State in 1899, about 200 men being 
employed here at different times of the year in taking mussels. 
Many valuable pearls are found in the mussels and serve as an extra 
inducement for the fishermen to engage in the fishery. 
Two factories at Prairie du Chien were engaged in manufacturing 
pearl-button blanks from mussel shells, these blanks being shipped to 
New York City, where they were made into buttons. The two facto- 
ries employed 58 men. The buildings, together with the accessory 
property necessary for carrying on the business, were valued at $6,360, 
and the cash capital required was $12,500. Between the two firms 
520 tons of mussel shells were purchased at a cost of $4,224. From 
these shells 73,043 gross of button blanks were manufactured, having 
a value of $8,895. 
There has been a slight decline in the fishing proper, due to the fact 
