PRODUCTS OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES IN DETAIL. 



65 



Gill nets took two-thirds of the mullet caught and 

 seines almost one-fourth. 



Mussels. — The black, thin-shelled salt-water mussel 

 (Mytilus edulis) is found on the Atlantic coast as far 

 south as North Carolina and on the Pacific coast north 

 of Monterey. The shells are used as a cultch for 

 young oysters, as paint holders, and as ornaments. 

 Large quantities of another genus (Modiola) are sold 

 to farmers along the New Jersey and Long Island 

 coasts for fertilizer. The fresh-water mussels ( TJnion- 

 idse) are of much value as food for animals and birds, 

 and the shells are used in making pearl buttons. 



Mussels appear among the products of 17 states. In 

 the case of the salt-water product the quantity of the 

 catch is reported on the contained meat basis, while 

 for the fresh-water varieties, which are taken primarily 

 for the shells and pearls, the quantity represents the 

 weight of shells. The salt-water product, which is the 

 product referred to in this report under the head of 

 "Mussels," is included in the returns of six states — 

 California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, 

 New York, and Rhode Island. Connecticut was the 

 only one of these states reporting also the fresh-water 

 varieties. The remaining 11 states which had mussel 

 fisheries obtained their product entirely from the fresh 

 waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 

 The meat of the salt-water product is sold for bait to 

 fishermen and for fertilizer to farmers, and is also 

 pickled and sold as an article of food. The shell of the 

 salt-water mussel is utilized to a certain extent in the 

 manufacture of buttons and mother-of-pearl articles, 

 but no record of this shell product enters into the re- 

 turns given in the present report. The statistics of 

 the salt-water product are given in the following tabu- 

 lar statement: 



i Less than 1 per cent. 

 76786°— 11 5 



The products of the fresh-water mussel-shell fisheries 

 were as follows: 



Illinois reported 52 per cent of the total value of the 

 mussel-shell product and considerably more than 

 one-half of the value of the pearl output. Indiana 

 was next in order, contributing a product valued at 

 22 per cent of the total. The fisheries of the Ohio 

 River and its tributaries, during 1908, were more 

 prolific than those of the Mississippi River proper. 

 Of the total value of the Illinois product, $114,000 

 came from the Ohio River, which, added to the value 

 of the yield from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Ten- 

 nessee, made a total of $309,000 as the value of the 

 mussel-shell product of this river and its tributaries. 

 The Illinois River produced shells valued at $139,000, 

 which leaves a balance of $239,000 as the value of those 

 reported from the Mississippi and its other tributaries. 

 Considerably over half the value of pearls reported 

 ($154,000) was from the Ohio River district, as 

 compared with a value of $146,000 reported from 

 the Mississippi River district, including the fisheries 

 of the Illinois River. Of shells, however, the Missis- 

 sippi River district, including the Illinois River, pro- 

 duced a quantity valued at $230,000, compared with 

 the product of the Ohio River district, which had a 

 value of $156,000. In the Ohio River district the 

 mussel product was much more valuable than that 

 of all other fishery products combined, and in the 

 Mississippi River district it was second only to carp. 



The total shell product for 1908 shows an increase 

 of 72 per cent in quantity and 81 per cent in value, 

 compared with 1899, when the quantity was 47,648,000 

 pounds, valued at $216,000. The yield of pearls was 

 not reported in 1899. In the returns of shells for that 

 year only five states were represented — Illinois, Iowa, 

 Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The Illinois 

 product has had a marked growth from 8,910,000 

 pounds in 1899 to 39,809,000 pounds in 1908. The 

 Minnesota output, too, was much larger in 1908 than 

 1899. In the other three states, however, there has 

 been a pronounced decrease. Iowa in 1899 produced 



