Statistics of American Fisheries. IOI 
There has been no statistical inquiry into the subject since 
1869, when M. P. de Broca, a lieutenant in the French navy, 
was sent by the government of France to this country to in- 
vestigate the subject of oyster-culture. De Broca published 
an elaborate report, which is reprinted in the Report of the 
United States Commissioners of Fisheries, 1876. He esti- 
mates the commerce of New York in this direction at $5,- 
000,000, and that of the whole country at 50,000,000, al- 
though these figures were not supposed to represent the total 
amount of products, since along the coast and the rivers 
there is a daily consumption which cannot be estimated. 
The Merchants Magazine and Commercial Keview for 1859 
estimated the trade in oysters in the principal cities as fol- 
lows: Bushels. 
Virginia (State).......--.-++-+5 SP as ta Be I,050,000 
TB | Ta scat a Slat ape ae I eae a a as 3,500,000 
Pdelpiia as ets. ee te ae ea Sale ees 2,500,000 
je lier AG vale AEA ON Aa SS eI aa eer ae a 6,950,000 
Bee Ea it me ee oe oa ec tele) cre evens Hrehage nanenens 2,000,000 
Other cities, such as Providence, Boston, &c... 4,000,000 
BC GN sre AR es oi Gn gk Bp eee CS an re 20,900,000 
2 
Calculating 200 oysters to a bushel, we here have the 
enormous amount of 4,000,000,000 individual oysters con- 
sumed. 
The cod-fishery is the most valuable of the fisheries prop- 
er, the proceeds of the United States fishery in 1876 being 
estimated at $4,825,000. The number of pounds of fresh fish 
is put at 214,000,000 pounds, or hardly half the amount ob- 
tained from the menhaden fishery ; 25,000,000 pounds are 
brought fresh to market, and the remainder is salted. About 
200,000,000 pounds are estimated to be obtained from the off- 
