PRODUCTS OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES IN DETAIL. 



63 



The quantity and value of the mackerel catch for 

 prior years, so far as statistics are available, are given 

 in the following tabular statement : 



The data given for 1902 are for the New England 

 states alone, there being no statistics for the Middle 

 Atlantic states for that year. The catch of the Middle 

 Atlantic states, however, is of slight relative impor- 

 tance, having constituted, in the years for which 

 figures are available, only about 2 per cent of the 

 total. 



About 72 per cent of the total value of the mackerel 

 product represented the value of the catch with seines, 

 22 per cent the value of that made with gill nets, 

 5 per cent the value of that with pound nets, trap 

 nets, and weirs, and 1 per cent the value of the cap- 

 ture with lines. 



The statistics for the chub mackerel {Scomber 

 japonicus) and the Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus 

 maculatus) are not included in the foregoing presenta- 

 tion. The catch of the chub mackerel in 1 908 amounted 

 to 639,000 pounds, valued at $16,000, the greater part 

 of which was taken by Rhode Island fishermen. While 

 this species closely resembles the common mackerel, 

 and is an excellent food fish, the average price in 1908 

 was much lower than that of the common mackerel. 

 The catch of Spanish mackerel was 3,806,000 pounds, 

 valued at $194,000, the greater part of which was 

 reported from Florida. 



Mervhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus). — The menhaden is 

 a fish of the herring family, found along the Atlantic 

 seaboard from Maine to Florida. It is known by a 



great many local names, the most common being 

 "pogy," "hardhead," "hardhead shad," "bony fish," 

 "whitefish," "mossbunker," "bunker," "cheboy," 

 "marshbanker," "alewife," "oldwife," "ellwife," "pil- 

 cher," "green-tail," "bug-fish," "bug-shad," "bug- 

 head," "fat-back," "yellowtail," "shiner," "herring," 

 etc. The average length of menhaden is from 1 to 

 12 inches, and the average weight from two-thirds 

 of a pound to 1 pound. They are caught in purse 

 seines, haul seines, gill nets, set nets, and weirs. 

 Their economic importance is due mainly to the oil 

 and guano which are produced from them; they are 

 also used as bait for mackerel, cod, halibut, haddock, 

 and sea bass. As a food fish they are sold fresh, 

 salted, and canned. "Fish meal," a food for domestic 

 animals, is also made from them. 



The menhaden is the most abundant fish found any- 

 where in the waters of the United States and forms 

 one of the principal fishery products. The total catch 

 in 1908 was 394,776,000 pounds, which quantity 

 represented one-fifth of the weight of all fishery prod- 

 ucts of the country, and was nearly 70 per cent greater 

 than the weight of the fishery product next in rank. 

 In value, however, this fish ranked fourteenth, con- 

 tributing $893,000 in 1908, or only 2 per cent of the 

 value of all fishery products. The catch, by states, is 

 given in the following tabular statement, in which the 

 states are ranked according to the value of their 

 respective products : 



1 Includes Alabama, Florida, Massachusetts, and Mississippi. 



In 1908 menhaden fishing was pursued along the 

 Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina, 

 and a small quantity of the fish was also taken in the 

 Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The menha- 

 den is very irregular in its movements. Some years 

 it goes as far north as Nova Scotia, and several men- 

 haden factories are situated in Maine ready to be 

 operated when the fish appear on that coast. In 1908 

 these factories were not operated. In 1900 this fish 

 was found along the coast of Texas, but none was 

 taken in that locality in 1908. Menhaden approach 

 the coast waters upon the advent of warm weather 

 and remain until the water cools. Thev are seen as 



