FISHEEIES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 227 



STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES BY COUNTIES. 



There are 21 counties in New Jersey, 18 of which are interested to 

 a greater or less extent in the fishery industry. Essex County is 

 interested only in respect to the fishery trade which is carried on at 

 Newark, but the remaining 17 counties are directly engaged in fish- 

 eries. Seven of these counties, Bergen, Hudson, Union, Middlesex, 

 Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic, and the east side of Burlington and 

 Cape May, are on the eastern side of the State, prosecuting their fish- 

 eries mainly in the Atlantic Ocean and tributary bays and rivers, while 

 the remaining counties, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Mercer, Camden, 

 Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, and the west side of Burlington and 

 and Cape May, are on the Delaware River and Bay. 



The county having the most extensive fisheries, as determined by 

 the value of the products, is Monmouth. The number of persons 

 engaged in the fisheries of this county in 1897 was 2,209. Of these, 

 403 were employed on vessels, 1,689 on boats, and 117 were shoresmen. 

 The investment in vessels, boats, fishing apparatus, shore property, and 

 cash capital amounted to $545,445. The products, consisting of a large 

 variety of species, were valued at $977,683. 



In 1898 the number of persons engaged in all branches of fisheries 

 in the county was 2,279; the amount of capital invested was $563,774, 

 and the value of the products $971,418. The species taken in greatest 

 abundance in 1897 were blue-fish, 4,264,400 pounds, $113,197; cod, 

 2,222,000 pounds, $32,620; menhaden, 20,223,800 pounds, $50,266; 

 squeteague, 5,499,919 pounds, $97,653; oysters, 188,487 bushels, $186- 

 090; hard clams, 267,861 bushels, $290,654; and soft clams, 70,300 

 bushels, $61,625. In 1898 blue-fish aggregated 4,163,070 pounds, 

 $125,548; cod, 1,200,200 pounds, $34,920; menhaden, 16,413,500 pounds, 

 $43,078; squeteague, 6,279,603 pounds, $118,845; oysters, 148,239 

 bushels, $147,224; hard clams, 258,546 bushels, $282,348; and soft 

 clams, 75,500 bushels, $64,345. In addition to these there were more 

 than thirty other varieties, many of which are important food species 

 and are taken in comparatively large quantities. 



Cumberland County, which ranks next in the value of its fishery 

 products, exceeded Monmouth in the number of persons employed and 

 capital invested in 1897, but only in the investment in 1898. The 

 number of persons engaged in the fisheries of this county in 1897 was 

 1,420 on vessels, 709 in shore or boat fisheries, and 263 on shore; a 

 total of 2,392. The amount of capital invested was $678,788, and the 

 products, consisting largely of oysters, were valued at $859,950. 



In 1898 the fisheries of this county employed 2,111 persons, the 

 amount of capital invested was $645,680, and the value of the products 

 was $867,549. The excess of capital in this county as compared with 

 Monmouth is due to the employment of a much larger number of vessels. 



