PRODUCTS OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES IN DETAIL. 



69 



Pollack (PollacMus virens). — The pollack, a food 

 fish of importance, is found mainly off the New Eng- 

 land coast. It sometimes appears as far south as 

 Virginia. The average weight is about 10 pounds. 

 The sounds are used in the manufacture of glue, the 

 livers are sold in large quantities for the manufacture 

 of oil, and the tongues are cut out and sold fresh. 



The pollack catch in 1908 amounted to 29,462,000 

 pounds, valued at $402,000, less than 1 per cent of the 

 total value for all fishery products and over 1 per cent 

 of that for fish proper. The value of the catches of the 

 fisheries of Massachusetts and Maine combined repre- 

 sented 97 per cent of the total. The statistics by 

 states are given in the following tabular statement : 



1 Less than 1 per cent. 



The yield for 1908 shows a large increase in value, 

 compared with the product of 1905, but the weight 

 was approximately the same for the two years. In 

 both of these years, however, the product was much 

 greater than in any other year for which statistics 

 are available, as is shown by the following tabular 

 statement: 



A small proportion of the pollack catch, less than 5 

 per cent of the total product, was salted by the fisher- 

 ies in 1908, and a still smaller percentage was salted 

 in 1905. 



The catch is taken principally in the vessel fisheries, 

 and the most important apparatus used are lines. In 

 1908, 68 per cent of the total quantity was taken with 

 lines, 23 per cent with seines, and about 8 per cent with 

 other kinds of apparatus. 



Salmon. — The salmon of the Atlantic coast (Salmo 

 salar) is found along the coast of the New England 

 states. At different ages the fish are known as "parrs," 



"smolts," "grilse," "kelts," and "salmon." The 

 adults weigh from 15 to 40 pounds. The landlocked 

 salmon, or fresh-water salmon, or Sebago salmon (S. 

 sebago), is found, as the name implies, in fresh waters, 

 generally landlocked. The steelhead {Salmo gairdneri) 

 is found in coastal streams from San Francisco north- 

 ward. 



The blueback salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) is found 

 on the Pacific coast from the Columbia Eiver north- 

 ward; and the California salmon, or chinook salmon, 

 or quinnat (0. tschawytscha) , is found from Monterey 

 to Alaska. The dog salmon (0. Tceta) ranges from the 

 Sacramento River to Bering Strait; the humpbacked 

 salmon, or lost salmon (O. gorbuscha), from the Sacra- 

 mento River to Alaska ; and the silver salmon or white 

 salmon (0. kisutch) is found in all rivers from the 

 Sacramento River to Bering Strait. 



The following are improperly called salmon and are 

 not included in the following tables under that name: 

 The California yellow-tail (Seriola dorsalis) which is 

 known as the "white salmon" on the Pacific coast; 

 the chub (PtychocJieilus lucius) of the Colorado River 

 is sometimes called salmon; "kelp salmon" is applied 

 to the cabrilla (Paralabrax clatJiratus) at Monterey; 

 "lake salmon" to the lake trout in the lakes of north- 

 ern New York; and "salmon" and "jack salmon" to 

 the wall-eyed pike in the streams of the South. 



Next to oysters, salmon is the most important of the 

 fishery products. Its value in 1908 was $3,347,000, 

 or 6 per cent of the total. It was first in importance 

 among the different species of fish proper, and repre- 

 sented 11 per cent of their total value. Practically 

 the entire catch was made on the Pacific coast, in 

 which district salmon represented 49 per cent of the 

 total value of fishery products. The statistics, by 

 states, are given in the following tabular statement: 



1 Less than 1 per cent. 2 Less than §100. 



1 Less than 100 pounds. 



The figures for the salmon product given here are 

 for the product sold in the open market or to the can- 

 neries. The statistics for the product of the canneries 

 and packing houses are given on page 283. 



The statistics of the product of the Pacific coast 

 states, classified according to variety, are as follows: 



