288 EEPORT OF COMMISSIOKER OF FISH AND FISHEEIES. 



FISHERIES OF VIRGINIA. 



The fisheries of Virginia are prosecuted mainly in the waters of 

 Chesapeake Bay and the estuaries and rivers tributary thereto, the 

 exception being the oyster and other fisheries along the ocean coast of 

 Accomac, Northampton, and Princess Anne counties. 



The persons employed in the fisheries in 1897 numbered 28,277, of 

 whom 5,102 were on vessels, either fishing or transporting, and 19,150 

 were engaged in the shore fisheries, while the remaining 4,025 persons 

 were employed in menhaden and oyster factories and in the wholesale 

 trade. This is a considerable increase over 1891, when 4,308 persons 

 were employed on vessels, 16,027 in the shore fisheries, and 3,260 in 

 the factories and the wholesale trade, a total of 23,595. 



The investment in the fisheries included 1,055 vessels, valued with 

 their outfit at 1914,824; 10,302 boats, worth 1493,276; 1,250 pound nets, 

 worth 1264, 600 ; 145 seines, worth |54, 01 2 ; 9, 307 gill nets, worth $46, 235 ; 

 oyster dredges and tongs, worth $73,755, and various minor apparatus,' 

 worth $12,402. Besides the foregoing there was $607,682 worth of 

 shore and accessory property employed and cash capital to the amount 

 of $424,750, making a total investment of $2,891,536. 



This was a slight decrease from the figures for 1891, when the value 

 of the investment was $2,948,659. The principal decrease was in 

 value of shore and accessory propert}^ and cash capital, which in 1891 

 was reported at $717,787 and $467,500, respectively. The vessels with 

 their outfit in 1891 were valued at $939,136 and the boats at $463,722. 

 As a partial offset for this decrease a large increase occurred in the 

 value of the pound nets, their value being $165,990 in 1891 and $264,600 

 in 1897, the number in the meantime increasing from 891 to 1,250. 



The value of products in 1897 was $3,179,498, being $468,347 less 

 than in 1891 when the yield was worth $3,647,845 to the fishermen. 

 This decrease is due to the reduced value of the oyster product, which in 

 1891 was worth $2,524,348, whereas in 1897 it was but $2,041,683. The 

 yield of shad, the second item in value among the fishery products, 

 shows a gratifying increase from $207,394 in 1891 to $304,448 in 1897. 

 During the same years the menhaden product shows an increase from 

 $197,523 to $255,241; the value of the clams increased from $36,030 

 to $66,097, and the crab yield arose from $62,062 to $68,245. Most 

 of the other species show a decrease in the yield — squeteague from 

 $124,645 to $89,967; alewives or river herring from $93,905 to $70,841; 

 blue-fish from $67,545 to $34,802, and cat-fish from $28,487 to $12,292. 



The decrease in value of the fisheries is not due to a reduction in 

 quantity of products obtained, but to a smaller selling price. For 

 instance, while the oyster yield decreased in value from $2,524,348 to 

 $2,041,683, the quantity obtained in the former year was 6,162,086 

 bushels and in 1897 it was 7,023,848 bushels. The value of squeteague 

 decreased from $124,645 in 1891 to $89,967 in 1897, although the 



