CHAPTEE IY. 



CAPITAL AND EQUIPMENT. 



Although it is impossible to collect satisfactory sta- 

 tistics in regard to capital invested in the fishing in- 

 dustry, it was considered necessary to include in the 

 schedule an inquiry on this subject. The number and 

 value of the different classes of vessels, boats, and ap- 

 paratus of capture were reported separately. The 

 value of land, buildings, machinery, tools, implements, 

 and other fixed capital, as well as cash on hand, mate- 

 rials in stock, and the various other items of live 

 capital, were returned as separate items of investment. 

 The instructions for the inquiry given on the schedule 

 were as follows: 



The answer must show the total amount of capital, both owned 

 and borrowed. All the items of fixed and live capital may be 

 taken at the amounts carried on the books. If land or buildings 

 are rented or vessels are chartered, that fact should be stated and 

 the value given. The value of all items of live capital, bills re- 

 ceivable, unsettled ledger accounts, materials, products, and cash 

 on hand, etc., should be given as of the beginning of the business 

 year reported. 



The total capital invested in the commercial fish- 

 eries of the United States, as compiled from the an- 

 swers to this inquiry, amounted to $42,021,000, of 

 which 57 per cent was invested in vessel fisheries and 

 43 per cent in shore and boat fisheries. The following 

 tabular statement gives the leading items of capital: 



Shore and accessory property includes wharf prop- 

 erty, fish depots, house boats, shelters built near or 

 upon fishing grounds, and unused apparatus of cap- 

 ture; it does not include investments in preserving or 

 canning establishments. Cash consists of the current 

 funds employed in the business. 



In the case of both classes of, fisheries the craft 

 used was the largest item of investment. The capital 

 invested in the vessels, including outfits, of the vessel 

 fisheries was nearly equal to the entire investment in 

 shore and boat fisheries and more than twice the capi- 

 tal reported as invested in boats by the shore and boat 

 fisheries. The apparatus of capture used by the shore 



and boat fisheries, however, had a value over three 

 times as great as that used by the vessel fisheries. 

 The investment in shore and accessory property was 

 larger for the shore and boat fisheries, but a larger 

 amount of cash was reported for the vessel fisheries. 

 The amount represented by shore and accessory prop- 

 erty and cash combined did not differ materially for 

 the two classes of fisheries. 



The capital invested in the Atlantic coast division 

 exceeded that of all the other divisions combined, be- 

 ing 60 per cent of the total In the case of nearly 

 every item more than one-half of the total for the 

 United States was reported for this geographic divi- 

 sion. 



The Great Lakes division is the only one in which 

 there was less capital invested in vessels and boats 

 than in apparatus of capture. In this district the 

 amount reported for shore and accessory property 

 and cash was relatively high. 



The capital invested is presented by main geographic 

 divisions in Table 1 on page 22 and by states on page 

 13. Those states reporting an amount in excess of 

 $2,000,000 are shown in the following tabular state- 

 ment in the order of rank. The nine states given had 

 invested a total capital of $27,227,000, or 65 per cent 

 of the total investment in the industry. 



Vessels and boats. — Table 3 on page 23 gives in 

 detail the statistics of, vessels and boats for the United 

 States as a whole, and for the main geographic divisions. 

 The value of vessels, outfits of vessels, and boats em- 

 ployed in the fisheries of the United States amounted 

 to $25,101,000, or 60 per cent of the total capital. 



The distinction between vessels and boats is one of 

 tonnage. The term "vessel" is applied to all craft 

 of 5 tons register or over, whether or not they are 

 registered as required by the navigation laws of the 



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