224 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The number of vessels fishing and transporting was 675, having a 

 value, with their outfits, of $766,844; the number of boats in the shore 

 fisheries was 6,365, valued at $485,059; the apparatus, consisting of 

 seines, gill nets, pound nets and weirs, fyke nets, stop nets, hand and 

 trawl lines, lobster and eel pots, oyster tongs, rakes and dredges, clam 

 tongs, rakes and hoes, and various small apparatus, was valued at 

 1381,958, $46,759 of this value being used on vessels and $335,199 on 

 boats. The value of shore and accessory property was $563,992, and 

 the amount of cash capital utilized was $173,400, a total investment, 

 including the cash capital, of $2,371,253. 



In 1898 the number of persons engaged was slightly less than in the 

 former year, being 12,270 — 2,213 on vessels, 9,413 on boats, and 644 

 in shore industries. The number of vessels employed .was 648, being 

 27 less than in 1897, and valued, with their outfits, at $746,575; the 

 number of boats was 6,424, valued at $483,889; the fishing appara- 

 tus used was valued at $380,111; the shore and accessory property at 

 $561,048; the cash capital was $165,800, and the total investment 

 $2,337,423, being $33,830 less than in the preceding year. 



The products of the fisheries in 1897 consisted of 72,429,539 pounds 

 of fish, valued at $1,189,935; 200,155 pounds of caviar, valued at 

 $67,592; 1,605,264 hard crabs in number, valued at $14,411; 780,639 

 soft crabs, valued at $25,658; 562,400 king crabs, valued at $4,495; 

 99,230 pounds of lobsters, valued at $8,573; 2,896 pounds of shrimp, 

 valued at $1,565; 3,005,048 bushels of oysters, valued at $1,682,015; 

 591,272 bushels of hard clams, valued at $543,795; 74,500 bushels of 

 soft clams, valued at $63,725; 12,000 bushels of scallops, valued at 

 $4,000; 50,400 bushels of mussels, valued at $1,575; 13,528 pounds of 

 terrapin, valued at $6,096, and 14,550 pounds of turtles, valued at $999; 

 a total value of $3,614,434. 



The .value of all species classed as fish, including caviar, a product 

 of the sturgeon, was $1,257,527; of the molluscan species, $2,295,110, 

 and of the crustacean and reptilian species, $61,797. The species of 

 fish taken in greatest quantity were ale wives, 2,053,802 pounds, 

 $9,529; blue-fish, 5,164,173 pounds, $148,257; cod, 3,481,890 pounds, 

 $71,208; flounders, 1,225,725 pounds, $29,018; menhaden, 30,552,825 

 pounds, $70,056; sea bass, 2,131,480 pounds, $74,281; shad, 13,000,783 

 •pounds, $342,931, and squeteague, 8,679,132 pounds, $180,989. 



The molluscan fisheries surpass all others in value, the oysters alone 

 having a greater value than all the species of fish combined. The most 

 important crustaceans are the hard and soft crabs, although in weight 

 the catch of king crabs exceeds all the other varieties. The yield of 

 lobsters is not large, and shrimp are taken only in small quantities. 

 The catch of shad in New Jersey is greater than in any other State, 

 and comprises about one-fourth of the shad taken in the entire country. 



