﻿20 
  

  

  III. 
  

  

  The 
  entire 
  number 
  of 
  fishes 
  inhabiting 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  is 
  about 
  1400. 
  Over 
  300 
  of 
  these 
  have 
  a 
  

   recognised 
  economic 
  value. 
  There 
  is 
  also 
  the 
  usual 
  number 
  

   of 
  species 
  of 
  whales 
  and 
  seals, 
  several 
  reptiles 
  of 
  industrial 
  

   importance, 
  and 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  mollusks 
  and 
  crustaceans, 
  

   though, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  the 
  oyster, 
  the 
  clams, 
  the 
  

   lobster 
  and 
  the 
  blue-crab, 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  

   not 
  fully 
  realised. 
  

  

  With 
  a 
  coast-line 
  of 
  nearly 
  7000 
  miles,* 
  extending 
  almost 
  

   from 
  the 
  tropics 
  to 
  the 
  pole, 
  and 
  with 
  fishing 
  fleets 
  in 
  Arctic, 
  

   Temperate 
  and 
  Tropical 
  Seas, 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  has 
  fisheries 
  

   corresponding 
  to 
  every 
  kind 
  known 
  elsewhere, 
  except 
  the 
  

   pearl 
  and 
  the 
  coral 
  fisheries. 
  In 
  hardly 
  any 
  direction 
  have 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  reached 
  their 
  fullest 
  development, 
  and 
  many 
  

   important 
  species, 
  in 
  good 
  esteem 
  elsewhere, 
  are 
  here 
  totally 
  

   neglected 
  ; 
  skates 
  are 
  despised, 
  and 
  millions 
  of 
  pounds 
  

   annually 
  thrown 
  away. 
  The 
  weight 
  of 
  edible 
  fish 
  taken 
  from 
  

   the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  in 
  1880 
  is 
  over 
  1,500,000,000 
  

   pounds. 
  This 
  estimate 
  does 
  not 
  include 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  

   inland 
  fisheries, 
  other 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  lakes, 
  nor 
  the 
  

   shells 
  of 
  the 
  mollusks. 
  

  

  IV. 
  

  

  Fishing 
  Grounds. 
  — 
  The 
  off-shore 
  fisheries 
  are 
  prosecuted 
  

   on 
  the 
  great 
  oceanic 
  banks 
  extending 
  from 
  Nantucket 
  to 
  

   Labrador, 
  and 
  upon 
  the 
  ledges 
  and 
  shoals 
  between 
  these 
  

   and 
  the 
  coast. 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  Purse-seine 
  fisheries 
  for 
  mackerel 
  and 
  men- 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  coast-line, 
  not 
  including 
  that 
  of 
  Alaska, 
  nor 
  of 
  the 
  bays 
  and 
  

   sounds, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound, 
  is 
  stated 
  by 
  the 
  

   Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey 
  to 
  extend 
  to 
  a 
  length 
  of 
  5013 
  miles. 
  

  

  