PRODUCTS OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES IN DETAIL. 



53 



ful on the Grand Banks and off the coasts of New- 

 foundland and New England. The weight varies from 

 3 to 75 pounds. The Alaska cod (G. macrocephalus) is 

 found in the Pacific Ocean from Bering Sea to Oregon. 



Of the fishery products of the United States in 1908, 

 cod ranked third in value, the total product amounting 

 to 109,453,000 pounds, valued at $2,903,000. The 

 Atlantic coast states furnished 93 per cent of this 

 amount and the Pacific coast states the remaining 7 

 per cent. 



In the statement at top of next column is presented 

 the per cent distribution by states of the quantity and 

 the value of the cod product in 1908. 



On account of the length of the trips made by 

 vessels in the Pacific coast fisheries, often extending 

 over a period of several months, the fish taken are 

 salted on the vessels. In 1908 the Pacific coast catch 

 was 7,946,000 pounds, valued at $218,000. Massa- 

 chusetts and Maine furnished the entire amount of 

 salted cod from the Atlantic coast. The amount 

 salted in these two states is decreasing from year to 

 year, while the amount marketed in a fresh condition 

 is increasing. The total amount of salted cod was 

 30,245,000 pounds, valued at $950,000, or 27 per cent 

 of the total quantity and 33 per cent of the total 

 value of the United States cod product. 



i Less than 1 per cent. 2 All the cod product of this division was salted. 



Fresh cod from the Atlantic coast fisheries repre- 

 sented 72 per cent of the total quantity and 67 per 

 cent of the total value of the catch. Massachusetts 

 and Maine together furnished over four-fifths of the 

 total cod product. 



The comparative statistics of the cod product for 

 1888, 1902-1904, and 1908 are given in the following 

 tabular statement: 



1 All from the Atlantic coast. 



A comparison of the totals for 1908 with these for 

 1902-1904 shows that there has been an increase, but 

 that the yield reported at the last canvass was not 

 equal to that of 1888. There was a heavy increase in 

 the amount brought into market fresh and a corre- 

 sponding decrease in the amount salted. The figures 

 for Washington show an increase since the last canvass 

 and those for California a decrease, while the result 

 was an increase for the Pacific coast division as a 

 whole. The cod taken by the Connecticut and Dela- 

 ware fisheries formed but a small fraction of the total, 

 but the value of the catch in the former state in 1908 



2 Less than 1 per cent. 



was nearly four times as great as that in 1902, and in 

 the latter the quantity caught was nearly nine times 

 as great as in 1904. New Jersey, New York, and 

 Rhode Island more than doubled their catch. New 

 Hampshire and Maryland were the only states on the 

 Atlantic coast showing a decrease. The distribution 

 of the cod taken in 1888, 1902-1904, and 1908 is given 

 in the next tabular statement: 



As the cod habitually feeds on the bottom, prac- 

 tically the entire catch was taken with trawls and hand 

 lines, though a few were taken in pound nets, gill nets, 

 and other trawls. 



