CHAPTER VII. 



FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



ALABAMA. 



The state of Alabama has the shortest coast line of 

 any of the states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, and 

 its fishing interests, whether measured by the number 

 of fishermen, capital invested, or products, are the 

 least of any of the Gulf states. Among the states 

 engaged in fishing in 1908, Alabama ranked twenty- 

 fourth in the value of all products, second in the red 

 snapper fisheries, and sixteenth in the oyster industry. 

 The oyster industry was by far the most important 

 fishing industry of the state and contributed nearly 

 45 per cent to the total value of all fishery products 

 in 1908. The other fisheries with products exceeding 

 $10,000 in value for the year were, in the order of 

 value of products, the red snapper, mullet, catfish, 

 buffalo fish, squeteague, and fresh-water drum fisheries. 

 The chief fishing grounds are Mobile Bay, Mississippi 

 Sound, and the Gulf of Mexico ; commercial fishing is 

 also conducted in the Mobile, Alabama, and Tombigbee 

 Rivers. All of the foregoing together constitute the 

 Gulf of Mexico district. The only other fishing ground 

 of the state is the Tennessee River. 



The foUowing statement shows the principal items 

 of the Alabama fisheries in 1908: 



Number of persons employed 972 



Capital: 



Vessels and boats, including outfit $164, 000 



Apparatus of capture 23, 000 



Shore and accessory property and cash 82, 000 



Value of products 387, 000 



Comparison with previous canvasses. — The rapid 

 growth of this industry in Alabama during the past 

 20 years is shown in the following tabular statement: 



The increase has been continuous except in the cases 

 of the value of the product from 1889 to 1897 and 

 the investment in apparatus from 1889 to 1902. The 

 gain in the latter from 1902 to 1908 was due largely to 

 the increased use of trammel nets. 



Persons employed. — The distribution of the persons 

 employed in 1908 is given below: 



1 Exclusive of seven proprietors not fishing. 



2 Includes provisions furnished to the value of $21,000. 



Nearly all of the fishermen were employed in the Gulf 

 district, only 77 fishing on the Tennessee River. It will 

 be noted that all of the latter were independent fisher- 

 men. Nearly all of the fishermen engaged in the shore 

 and boat fisheries of the Gulf district were also inde- 

 pendent fishermen, only 22 wage-earners being em- 

 ployed by the 625 proprietors and independent fisher- 

 men of the shore and boat fisheries of that district. 

 At least 600 of the persons employed in the shore and 

 boat fisheries of the Gulf district and at least 677, or 

 nearly 70 per cent, of the 972 persons employed in the 

 fishing industry of the state must have been independ- 

 ent fishermen. 



Of the persons employed in the Gulf district, more 

 than 72 per cent were in the shore and boat fisheries. 

 In 1908 the number of persons employed in vessel 

 fisheries was 234, and on transporting vessels 11, as 

 compared with 254 and 19, respectively, in 1902. The 

 number of men engaged in the shore and boat fisheries 

 of the Gulf and its immediate tributaries was 647 in 

 1908, compared with 441 in 1902. There has thus been 

 a small decrease in the number of men employed in 

 the vessel fisheries and a large increase in the number 

 employed in the shore and boat fisheries. 



Equipment and other capital. — The tabular statement 

 following gives statistics of the fishing equipment com- 

 prised in vessels, boats, and apparatus of capture, and 

 of other capital. 



(79) 



