1386 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



The collection of statistics of the commercial fisheries and the industries 

 dependent thereon constitutes the major part of this work. The information 

 is required in great detail, and is obtained by the personal inquiries of a small 

 corps of agents, who visit all the fishing communities and interview fishermen, 

 fish dealers, vessel owners, factory proprietors, and others. While the Bureau 

 is not authorized by law to enforce demands for data, it very rarely happens 

 that information is refused; on the contrary, the objects and value of the work 

 being now well understood, many thousands of fishermen keep accurate records 

 for the special use of the Bureau, and dealers, transportation companies, pre- 

 parators, etc., permit free access to their books. 



The relatively small force available for the collection of statistics, the magni- 

 tude of the territory to be covered, and the extent of the fisheries prevent the 

 canvass of more than one section of the country during one season ; and it has 

 been found impossible to cover the entire coastwise and interior fisheries oftener 

 than once in four or five years. Herewith are the latest available statistics 

 gathered by the Bureau for the general fishing industry. These figures show 

 that 219,534 persons were engaged in the fisheries, $94,254,839 were invested 

 in vessels, boats, apparatus, and other property, and the products had a value 

 of $61,047,909: 



Statement of the Persons Engaged and the Capital Invested in the Fisheries op the 



United States. 



Atlantic and Gulf States. 



Number. 



Value. 



Pacific Coast States and Alaska. 



Value. 



Persons employed 



Vessels fishing 



Tonnage 



Outfit 



Vessels transporting 



Tonnage 



Outfit 



Boats 



Seines 



Gill nets and trammel nets 



Pound nets, trap nets, and weirs. _ 



Fyke nets 



Beam trawls and paranzellas 



Wheels and slides 



Eel and lobster pots 



Dredges, tongs, rakes, scrapes, etc. 



Lines 



Otherapparatus 



Shore and accessory property 



Cash capital- 



Total. 



161,923 



4.584 

 85.432 



1,686 

 29. 737 



61,489 



3.888 



143. 824 



7,384 



19.033 



66 



37 

 228,086 



170,256 



3,006,42s 

 1.847,469 



295. 257 

 3.981,761 



534. 227 



782,338 



1.540,835 



94, 180 



I, 696 



775 



248, 974 



411,424 



347,079 



55.347 



20,571, 131 



15.013,676 



56,902,850 



32,410 



121 



8,250 



334 

 62, 255 



10, 155 



772 



8,611 



680 



446 



41 



49 



521, 017 



289, 897 

 2, 771,022 



68, 055 



1,528,911 



282, 244 



1,095, 282 



1,444,510 



4, 610 



6.371 

 168, 000 



7. 131 



44.421 



45.075 



10,473.781 



7, 205, 650 



26,055,977 



