FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



133 



Total. 



Fish. 



Catfish. 



Buffalo. 



Drum (salt-water), channel bass, or red 

 fish 



Croaker 



Sheepshead 



Drum, fresh-water 



All other 



Oysters 



Shrimp 



Skins — mink, muskrat, and otter 



Crabs, soft 



Terrapin 



Hides, alligator 



All other 



value of products: 1908. 



Total. 



$1,569,000 



419,000 

 143,000 

 82,000 

 50,000 



39,000 

 28,000 

 18,000 

 15,000 

 45,000 

 763,000 

 213,000 

 98,000 

 21,000 

 21,000 

 11,000 

 24,000 



Vessel 

 fisheries. 



$174,000 



16,000 

 1,300 

 5,000 



(') 



2,700 

 3*300 

 2,000 

 400 

 1,800 

 146,000 

 8,800 



2,900 

 "600 



Shore and 



boat 

 fisheries. 



$1,395,000 



404,000 

 141,000 

 77,000 

 50,000 



36,000 

 24,000 

 16,000 

 15,000 

 44,000 

 617,000 

 204,000 

 98,000 

 21,000 

 18,000 

 11,000 

 23,000 



1 Less than $100. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. — The distribution 

 of the total value of products by apparatus of capture 

 for 1908, for the state as a whole and for the two classes 

 of fisheries, was as follows : 



KIND OF APPARATUS. 



Total 



Dredges, tongs, etc 



Seines 



Lines 



Mink, muskrat, and otter traps 



Fyke and hoop nets 



Shrimp nets 



Dip nets 



All other 



VALUE of products: 1908. 



Total. 



$1,569,000 



763, 

 400, 

 20.'!. 

 98. 

 32, 

 19, 

 15, 

 «, 



Vessel 

 fisheries. 



$174,000 



146,000 

 28,000 



Shore and 



boat 

 fisheries. 



$1,395,000 



617,000 

 372,000 

 203,000 

 98,000 

 32,000 

 19,000 

 15,000 

 41,000 



Dredges, tongs, etc., were the principal apparatus of 

 capture used in both classes of fisheries of the Gulf dis- 

 trict. Except for a very small quantity of periwinkles, 

 oysters were the only species taken by this kind of 

 apparatus. The proportions given below for oysters 

 apply in full to the product taken with dredges, 

 tongs, etc. 



The weight and value of the product taken by seines 

 made them second in importance as an apparatus of 

 capture in the entire state and in each branch of the 

 Gulf fisheries. Seines were used for taking 30 species, 

 chief of which were shrimp, squeteague (or sea trout) , 

 and buffalo fish. The value of the catch by this form 

 of apparatus represented nine-tenths of the value of the 

 shrimp taken in the state, more than two-thirds of the 

 value of the squeteague, and more than one-half of the 

 value of the buffalo fish. Practically all of the shrimp 

 taken either in the vessel fisheries or in the shore and 

 boat fisheries of the Gulf district and practically all of 

 the squeteague taken in the vessel fisheries were 

 caught with seines. Of the squeteague product taken 

 by the shore and boat fisheries, 74 per cent of the 

 quantity was taken by seines. In 1897 seines showed 

 a product slightly heavier than that of tongs, but the 

 value of the catch was not relatively as important as 

 in 1908. 



Lines were third in importance as apparatus of cap- 

 ture in the shore and boat fisheries of the Gulf district 

 and in the fisheries of the state as a whole. They 

 ranked first in the Mississippi Eiver fisheries, but 

 were not employed in the vessel fisheries. Twenty- 

 two species made up the catch by lines for the state; 

 yet one species, catfish, contributed 58 per cent of the 

 value of this product, as well as 50 per cent of the 

 value of the product of the shore and boat fisheries of 

 the Gulf. In 1897 the total catch by lines was 

 3,150,000 pounds, valued at 164,000, almost three- 

 fifths as much as the quantity reported in 1908, but 

 representing a value less than a third as great. 



A great many other kinds of apparatus of capture 

 were used to take the remainder of the product, which 

 was valued at $203,000 and represented about one- 

 eighth of the value for the entire state. The most 

 important of these kinds of apparatus were fyke and 

 hoop nets, which took products valued at $32,000, 

 and shrimp nets and dip nets, which took products 

 valued at $19,000 and $15,000, respectively. To 

 minor apparatus $20,000 was credited. 



The following tabular statement shows the distribu- 

 tion of the total value of fishery products, by apparatus 

 of capture, between the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Mississippi River districts: 



KIND OF APPARATUS. 



Total 



Dredges, tongs, etc 



Seines 



Lines 



Mink, muskrat, and otter traps. 



Fyke and hoop nets 



Shrimp nets 



Dip nets 



All other 



value of products: 1908. 



Total. 



7G3, 

 400, 

 203, 

 98, 

 32, 

 19, 

 15, 

 41 



Gulf of 

 Mexico 

 district. 



$1,448,000 



763,000 



383,000 



141,000 



98,000 



7,800 



1,500 



15,000 



39,000 



Mississippi 



River 



district. 



$121,000 



17,000 

 61,000 



24,000 

 17,000 



2,200 



Oysters. — In 1908 the Louisiana oyster product 

 amounted to 3,650,000 bushels, or, computed on the 

 basis of contained meat, 25,553,000 pounds, valued at 

 $763,000. That this product represents a remarkable 

 growth over previous years is shown by the following 

 tabular statement: 



The gain in the quantity of oysters between 1897 and 

 1908 constitutes two-thirds of the gain in the entire 

 fishery product of the state, while for the period from 



