REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 177 
decline in some of the most extensive fisheries and the diversion of 
many large fishing vessels to the Pacific States. Compared with 1880, 
in 1889 there were 507 less persons engaged in the fisheries; there 
were 445 fewer vessels and 3,226 fewer boats employed, and a corre- 
sponding decrease in the value of vessels, boats, and apparatus, but 
owing to a large increase in the amount of shore, accessory, and cash 
property the total investment was $191,837 more than in 1880. The 
value of the general food-fish fisheries was about $1,850,000 less in 1889 ; 
the oyster, clam, and scallop fisheries were $965,000 greater; the lob- 
ster fishery was $310,000 more valuable; the menhaden fishery exceeded 
by $30,000 the results in 1880; and the whale fishery declined in value 
$1,400,000. A net decrease in the value of the fishing industry amount- 
ing to $1,950,000 is disclosed, a sum that would be easily overcoine by 
the return of mackerel to our shores in their former abundance. 
SOUTH ATLANTIC COAST. 
The field work in this region occupied parts of two years. On Jan- 
uary 14, 1890, Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, field superintendent in the Divi- 
sion of Fish-Culture, who had been assigned to temporary duty in the 
Division of Fisheries, was detailed to make a study of the methods and 
statistics of the fisheries of the South Atlantic States. Mr. Ravenel 
had conducted a similar inquiry in this section during the previous 
year, and his familiarity with the fisheries made his services of special 
value to the office. The canvass was begun in Florida and had ex- 
tended to a point on Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, when, on April 
1, 1890, it became necessary to detach Mr. Ravenel from this work in 
order to resume his regular duties. 
Owing to various exigencies, the canvass which was brought almost 
to a close by Mr. Ravenel could not be completed at that time, and 
it was not until the following year that it became feasible to do ad- 
ditional work in the South Atlantic region. Immediately after the 
completion of the inquiry in the Gulf States, to which reference will 
be made, the force there engaged was transferred to this section and 
disposed at proper intervals along the coast. Mr. Ravenel had again 
been assigned to this duty, and, while the investigation in the Gulf was 
in progress, had begun his canvass and had gotten the work well ad- 
vanced by the time the regular agents were available to assist in the 
inquiry. He visited the fisheries of eastern Florida, Georgia, and the 
greater part of South Carolina before being obliged to suspend on 
account of other duties. Mr. Stevenson took up Mr. Ravenel’s inquiry 
at Georgetown, S. C., finished that State and visited a part of North 
Carolina, Messrs. Hall and Race covering the remaining part of the 
State. The work was*broughtto a close about the middle of June, 1891. 
This inquiry was addressed to every phase of the fishing industry and 
may be regarded as a complete canvass of all the commercial fishing 
interests, including those of the rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean. 
H. Mis, 113 2 
