OHAPTEE VI. 

 PRODUCTS OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES IN DETAIL. 



Nearly seven-eighths of the value of fishery products 

 of the United States in 1908 was represented by 30 

 kinds of products. Detailed statistics for these 

 classes, and also for a few of the minor products of 

 general interest, are presented in this chapter. The 

 products here considered are the following: 



Alewives (Pomolobus pseudoliarengus and P sesti- 

 valis). — These two species of fish are generally known 

 indiscriminately as alewives, and are found in waters 

 adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. P. pseudoharengus is 

 never found south of the Neuse River, in North Carolina. 

 It is known along the Potomac as "branch herring," 

 on Albemarle Sound as the " big-eyed herring" and the 

 "wall-eyed herring," in New England as " alewife," and 

 on the Connecticut River as "ellwife" and "ellwhop." 

 It appears in the rivers three or four weeks earlier 

 than the "glut herring" and the shad. P. aestivalis is 

 found from the Carolinas to the coast of Maine. It is 

 known in Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound as 

 "glut herring," in the Ogeechee River as "English her- 

 ring," in the St. Johns River as "herring," and in Massa- 

 chusetts and during the later runs in the Rappahannock 

 as the "blueback." It is also known as "blackbelly," 

 "sawbelly," and "kyack." This species is less abun- 

 dant and much less valuable as a food fish than P 

 pseudoharengus. Both species average about a half 

 pound in weight and from 8 to 10 inches in length. 

 They are caught in nets, seines, weirs, etc., and besides 

 being of great importance as food fish, are also used 

 for bait. The name "alewife" is applied to the men- 

 haden in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 



The value of the alewife catch in 1908 was $589,000, 

 and constituted 1 per cent of the total value of the 

 fishery products of the United States. Over three- 

 fourths of this amount represented the value of fish 

 disposed of fresh and 22 per cent the value of those 



which were salted, while the remainder was the value 

 of a few which were smoked. Although alewives were 

 taken in every state on the Atlantic coast except 

 South Carolina, three states — Virginia, Maryland, and 

 North Carolina — reported 80 per cent of the value and 

 86 per cent of the weight of the total alewife catch. 

 The following tabular statement gives the statistics 

 of the catch, by states: 



In the following tabular statement are given com- 

 parative statistics of the catch of alewives for a series 

 of years. Between 1892 and 1908 no figures for the 

 entire product in any one year are available, but the 

 returns for the New England states in 1898 have been 

 combined with those for the Middle Atlantic and the 

 South Atlantic states in 1897, while the results from 

 the canvass of the New England states for 1905, the 

 Middle Atlantic states for 1904, and the South Atlantic 

 states for 1902, have been similarly combined. This 

 course has been followed in presenting the figures for 

 other classes of products when returns are not avail- 

 able for the catch of all districts in any one year. 



A considerable increase is apparent in the quantity 

 of the product in 1908, as compared with that of 

 previous years. At the same time there has been an 

 increase in value, although this has not been com- 

 mensurate with the increase in quantity. 



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