1044 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [14] 



tity canned in this country, but so rapidly is the general trade in fish 

 increasing that the imports are even greater than before. In 1875 the 

 value of sardines and anchovies imported was $520,179; in 1878, $677,910; 

 1880, $1,102,410; 1881, $987,394; 1882, $800,700; and, 1883, $911,068. 



THE SHAD AND ALEWIFE FISHERIES. 



The fisheries for shad (Clupea sapidissima) and for alewives {Clupea 

 vernalis and C. wstivalis) yield annually nearly 20,000,000 pounds of the 

 former and 40,000,000 pounds of the latter fish. Shad are taken chiefly 

 in the rivers of Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 

 and North Carolina. In 1880 the total catch of all the States on the 

 Atlantic seaboard was 18,008,110 pounds, valued at $1,004,402. They 

 are eaten either fresh, salted, or smoked, though by far the greater part 

 are marketed fresh. One-third the entire catch of alewives comes from 

 the sounds and rivers of North Carolina. In 188;) the yield of that 

 region was 15,520,000 pounds as compared with 43,194,051 pounds for 

 the whole Atlantic seaboard. The Maryland alewife fisheries yielded 

 9,128,959 pounds, and those of Virginia 0,925,413 pounds, while Maine 

 and Massachusetts rivers yielded each over 3,000,000 pounds. Ale- 

 wives are very largely brine-salted in barrels. A large photograph in 

 the exhibit represents a number of negro women cleaning and packing 

 alewives at a fishery in North Carolina. 



STURGEON AND CAVIARE. 



Sturgeon (Acipenser sp.) are found in many of the rivers, but they are 

 not sought for to any extent east of New York. The take of that fish 

 in New York in 1880 was 144,000 pounds ; in New Jersey 300,000 pounds ; 

 Pennsylvania, 150,000 pounds ; Delaware, 570,000 pounds; Maryland, 

 144,000 pounds; Virginia, 411,000 pounds; North Carolina, 430,900 

 pounds; and other Southern States, 018,250 pounds. In North Carolina 

 and Georgia 80,250 pounds of sturgeon roe were salted down as caviare. 

 Sturgeon roe is prepared and put up iu cans under the trade names 

 "American caviare" and " Russian caviare" and has a large sale. A 

 considerable quantity of sturgeon is canned and branded "Albany beef," 

 a name said to be given to it from the fact that it was first brought 

 into the market at the city of Albany, on the Hudson River, New York. 



The sturgeon fisheries of the Great Lakes, especially Lakes Michigan, 

 Huron, and Erie, are extensive, the quantity of that fish taken in 1880 

 amounting to 7,012,100 pounds. Of this amount 5,050,700 pounds were 

 sold fresh, 1,258,180 pounds were smoked, and there were prepared 

 230,160 pounds of caviare, 3,909 pounds of isinglass, and 5,680 gallons 

 of oil. The other fish taken in the Great Lakes iu 1880 were 21,463,900 

 pounds of whitefish (Goregonus sp.), 0,804,000 pounds of trout, 15,356,300 

 pounds of herring, and 18,105,100 pounds of pike, bass, muskallonge, 

 catfish, and numerous other species. 



