STATISTICAL REVIEW OF THE COAST FISHERIES. 275 
In connection with the general comparison with 1880 it is worthy of 
remark that only one of the New England States, New Hampshire, has 
lost its relative rank ; Massachusetts maintains its preeminence j Maine 
and Rhode Island retain their places as the seventh and eleventh States 
respectively, while Connecticut advances one position. 
Of the Middle Atlantic States, New Jersey takes the lead, assuming 
third place, which was held by New York in 1880, while the latter State 
now occupies the fifth place, which New Jersey formerly held. The most 
noticeable change in this section is that of Delaware, which, on account 
of the decline in the natural oyster beds of Delaware Bay and conse- 
quent loss to the State, has declined from the eighth to the eighteenth 
place. Pennsylvania has advanced one place, Maryland has dropped 
from second to fourth place, and Virginia remains in the sixth position. 
In the South Atlantic region, North Carolina has dropped back three 
places, from tenth to thirteenth ; South Carolina two places, from seven- 
teenth to nineteenth; and Georgia one place, from twentieth to twenty- 
first. Only one State, Florida, maintains its former rank. 
On the Gulf of Mexico, excluding Florida, there has been consider- 
able shifting of positions. Alabama has been reduced one point, but 
all the other States have advanced from one to five places. 
The Pacific States have materially benefited their relative standing, 
California changing from fourth to second place, and Oregon and Wash- 
ington advancing together from the thirteenth and fourteenth positions 
to the ninth and tenth. 
Table 10, showing the percentage of increase or decrease since 1880 
will be found instructive. In discussing it we deem it advisable to con- 
sider the great geographical sections rather than to speak of the several 
States in detail, since the same information can be conveyed in’ this 
manner without unnecessary elaboration. It will be noticed that there 
has been a general increase in the personnel and capital employed, 
amounting to 18 per cent, in the former and 27 per cent, in the latter. 
Nevertheless, there has been an apparent decline of 1 per cent, in the 
value of the catch, although there has been an increase in the quantity 
of products. 
The decrease of 11 per cent, in the value of the catch in the New 
England States may be attributed entirely to the recent exceptional 
scarcity of mackerel and to the decline in the whale fishery. The 
decline in the New England whale fishery alone since 1880 amounts to 
more than the general decrease of 1 per cent, in the coast fisheries of 
the United States. With these exceptions there has been a general 
and gratifying increase in the fisheries of this section. 
The decline of 9 per cent, in the fisheries of the Middle Atlantic States 
is attributable to the marked decadence in the oyster fishery, this being 
the result of more or less unrestricted fishing, particularly in the Dela- 
ware and Chesapeake Bays. The general fisheries of this region have 
improved materially. 
