FISHERIES OP THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 211 



THE PRODUCTS BY DIFFERENT FORMS OF APPARATUS. 



The yield of the fisheries according to the apparatus used is given 

 in detail for each form of apparatus in the following seiies of tables. 

 As regards value of the product, dredges, tongs, and rakes are the 

 most important forms of apparatus, their catch in 1898 being valued at 

 $2,310,876, consisting chiefly of oysters, hard clams, and soft clams, and, 

 to a less extent, of scallops, shells, and hard crabs. The shells reported 

 in these returns are the shells of jingles and quarter-decks, which are 

 caught in Peconic Bay for sale to Connecticut oyster-growers. 



Of the forms of apparatus employed in taking fish proper the seine 

 is the most important, although in value of the product it is nearly 

 equaled by lines, the value of the. yield of the former in 1898 being 

 $456,381, and of the latter $441,251. The principal species taken by 

 means of seines is the menhaden, the yield of which was 159,992,645 

 pounds, worth $399,558. Practically all of these were used in the 

 manufacture of oil and fertilizer. The yield of food-fish b}^ seines is 

 very small, amounting in 1898 to only 1,892,847 pounds, worth 

 $56,823, and consisting principally of shad, carp, squeteague, striped 

 bass, flounders, etc. 



Lines constitute the most important form of apparatus for the cap- 

 ture of food-fish in New York State, the yield in 1898 aggregating 

 $441,251, or more than the yield of food fish proper in all other appa- 

 ratus in the State. The most important species in the line fishery is 

 the blue-fish, the yield of which in 1898 was valued at $353,160, or 80 

 per cent of the total line catch. Cod ranks second in importance as 

 regards the value of the catch, amounting to $67,725, or over three 

 times as much as all other species taken, exclusive of blue-fish. The 

 other species consist principally of sea bass, haddock, and red snapper. 



The gill-net fishery is prosecuted in nearly every county bordering 

 the coastal waters, and next to the line fishery it yields the greatest 

 return of -food-fish, amounting in 1898 to 4,849,397 pounds, worth 

 $144,607. Shad, sturgeon, and squeteague made up the principal 

 items, the yield of shad being 1,509,737 pounds, worth $52,736; of 

 sturgeon, 406,011 pounds, worth $46,468, including the caviar; and 

 of squeteague, 351,255 pounds, worth $12,225. 



The pound-net fishery, which is prosecuted in Suffolk, Kings, 

 Queens, and Richmond counties, but principally in the first named, 

 shows somewhat of a decrease from the conditions of 1891, when the 

 yield was 9,953,928 pounds, worth $125,719. In 1898 the yield was 

 6,219,601 pounds, worth $108,939, the most important items being 

 squeteague, 1,486,545 pounds, for which the fishermen received 

 $33,735; butter-fish, 461,436 pounds, worth $15,251; flounders, 439,836 

 pounds, worth $13,367; and scup, 536,532 pounds, worth $11,348. 



The principal fyke-net fishery in New York is for flounders, etc. , in 

 the vicinity of Sag Harbor and Springs, Suffolk County, and for shad 



