282 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
29,235,201 pounds, $401,031; mackerel, from 6,703,364 pounds, 
$361,864, to 17,624,322 pounds, $980,985; pollock, from 7,084,037 
pounds, $43,045, to 12,175,656 pounds, $117,768; squeteague, from 
1,371,910 pounds, $39,518, to 3,770,217 pounds, $90,252; whiting or 
silver hake, from 37,200 pounds, $492, to 2,286,200 pounds, $7,885; 
clams, hard and soft, from 1,981,487 pounds, $153,318, to 3,133,954 
pounds, $288,386; lobsters, from 1,693,741 pounds, $147,702, to 
1,695,688 pounds, $175,095, and squid, from 1,069,425 pounds, $14,620, 
to 5,365,076 pounds, $25,340. The catch of cod has decreased in quan- 
tity from 71,314,978 pounds to 69,521,385 pounds, but has increased 
in value from $1,407,039 to $1,772,942. Hake have decreased in catch 
from 21,331,816 pounds to 14,357,954 pounds, and increased in value 
from $163,634 to $191,379. Scup have decreased from 1,048,625 
pounds to 588,900 pounds in quantity, and increased from $14,253 to 
$14,978 in value. 
The decrease in the catch of cod was reported to have been largely 
due to the great abundance of dog-fish along the coast, which often 
destroyed the trawls and the fish on them, and drove the uncaught 
fish from the fishing grounds. 
Cod roe, and sometimes that of haddock, is shipped to France for 
use as bait in the sardine fisheries. The quantity of this product saved 
by the fishermen in 1902 as compared with the returns for 1898 has 
increased from 700 pounds, valued at S18, to 16,700 pounds, valued at 
Pool. 
The halibut fishery on the Atlantic coast has decreased greatly in 
recent years. From 1875 to 1880 the entire catch of this species in 
the fisheries of Massachusetts, varying from 9,000,000 to 16,000,000 
pounds a year, was from fishing banks in the Atlantic Ocean. Halibut 
from the Pacific coast were introduced into eastern markets by the 
shipment of a few carloads in 1880. In 1898 a Boston firm fitted out 
a steamer for catching halibut in the North Pacific Ocean, and, encour- 
aged by the success of the enterprise, in 1902 fitted out another. The 
total catch of halibut by Massachusetts vessels in 1902 was 12,155,934 
pounds, valued at $648,648. Of this quantity 7,136,934 pounds fresh 
and salted, valued at $447,883, was from the Atlantic, and 5,019,000 
pounds fresh, valued at $200,760, from the Pacific coast. 
The mackerel catch in 1902 was taken chiefly by 108 vessels, carry- 
ing 168 purse seines. The fleet included 103 schooners and 5 steamers, 
9 of the schooners having auxiliary power by the use of gasoline. In 
Essex County there were 87 vessels with 141 purse seines, in Suffolk 
County 15 vessels with 18 purse seines, in Plymouth County 2 vessels 
with 2 purse seines, and in Barnstable County 4 vessels with 7 purse 
seines. Large quantities of mackerel also were taken by vessels and 
boats with gill nets and hand lines, and in the pound-net and trap-net 
fisheries. The fish were generally large, and as a result the small 
