20 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



STATISTICAL INQUIRIES. 



During the last calendar j^ear a statistical canvass of the fisheries 

 of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

 Connecticut, and New York has been in progress. The present 

 amount of capital invested in these fisheries in the New England 

 States is $19,637,036, which, as compared with the figures of the last 

 canvass, made in 1889, shows a decrease of $437, 758. But this decrease 

 is only apparent, being caused chiefly by the transfer of the menhaden 

 industry to New York, and, while the relative values of the different 

 catches have changed, the food fisheries of these States have, in the 

 aggregate, increased in quantity and decreased but slightly in value. 

 35,445 persons are employed and 1,427 vessels, valued with their equip- 

 ment at $4,224,339. The total product is 393,355,570 pounds, worth 

 $9,672,702 — the fishery for cod, cusk, haddock, hake, and pollock 

 ranking first with a value of $2,798,109, followed by the oyster fishery 

 of Rhode Island and Connecticut, worth $1,910,684. The lobster 

 fishery is next in commercial importance, being worth $1,276,900. 

 While the catch has fallen from 30,500,000 pounds in 1889 to 14,660,000 

 in 1898, a decrease of more than 50 per cent, the price of lobsters has so 

 advanced that tlie value of the industry has increased a corresponding 

 degree. 



The inquirj^ conducted on Lake Erie in the calendar year 1899 shows. 

 a decided increase in the fisheries of this lake since the last canvass, in 

 quantity and value of the product, capital invested, and number of 

 persons employed. This is chiefly shown in the catch of white-fish 

 and lake herring. The yield of pike perch, though large, is not con- 

 siderabl}^ greater than in former years. 3,728 persons and 104 vessels 

 are engaged in the industry, representing an investment of $2,719,600. 

 In 1899, 58,393,000 pounds of products were obtained, worth $1,150,890. 

 A feature of the fisheries is the number of carp which were taken, 

 the catch amounting to over 3,600,000 pounds, valued at $51,400. 



On Lake Ontario, where for several j^ears there has been a decided 

 falling off in the commercial fisheries, there was in 1899 found to be 

 a material improvement, the yield being nearly three times as great 

 as in 1897, and it would appear that this region is beginning to feel the 

 effect of the fish-cultural operations which have been conducted here. 

 The number of persons engaged and capital invested are also propor- 

 tionately greater. The yield in 1899 amounted to nearly 2,500,000 

 pounds, valued at over $100,000. 



The quantity of fishing products landed at Boston and Gloucester 

 shows an increase of more than 33,000,000 pounds, with an increased 

 value of over $1,200,000. The bulk of the increase is to be credited to 

 Gloucester, though the fares landed at Boston are in excess of the year 

 before. The products landed from American vessels at the two ports 

 amounted to 176,774,301 pounds and were valued at nearly $4,200,000. 



Inquiries now in progress along the Great Lakes and in the Missis- 

 sippi Valley show that an increasing number of carp are being caught 



