FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



Table 3.— NORTH CAROLINA— PRODUCTS OF VESSEL FISHERIES: 1908. 



217 



i Includes apparatus, with catch, as follows: Dredges, tongs, etc., 1,337,000 pounds, valued at 864,000; and lines, 56,000 pounds, valued at 52,500. 

 a Less than $100. 3 160,000 bushels. ' 31,000 bushels. 



OHIO. 



The fisheries of Ohio may be grouped in two divi- 

 sions — those of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio River 

 and its tributaries. The Ohio River fisheries are of 

 very small proportions, the value of the products 

 from this district forming only 2 per cent of the total 

 value of the fishery product of the state. 



Of the species taken in the fisheries of the state in 

 1908, that for which the greatest value was reported 

 was lake herring, while German carp, blue pike, and 

 other varieties of pike perch followed closely in 

 importance. 



The general statistics for the Ohio fisheries for 1908 

 are summarized in the following tabular statement : 



Number of persons employed - 2, 054 



Capital: 



Vessels and boats, including outfit $356, 000 



Apparatus of capture 423, 000 



Shore and accessory property and cash 343, 000 



Value of products 840, 000 



Comparison with previous canvasses. — Statistics of 

 the fisheries of Ohio as a whole are not available for 

 former years, but figures for the Lake Erie fisheries 

 of the state have been reported by the Bureau of 

 Fisheries for certain years, and since the Lake Erie 

 district contributes such a large proportion of the 

 fishery product of the state, these figures give a fairly 

 accurate idea of the fluctuations which have taken 

 place. 



As will be seen from the tabular statement given 

 below, this district shows a marked recovery from a 

 retrograde movement which culminated in 1903. The 



waters of Lake Erie are so shallow that it would be 

 possible to catch all the fish in them, and such a con- 

 dition was imminent in 1903. Warnings of the pos- 

 sible extinction of the fish in this lake were given in 

 1890 by the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, who 

 called attention to an ominous decrease in the product 

 since 1885. 



The increase in fishery products which has taken 

 place during recent years has not, however, extended 

 to the fisheries of the Ohio River district, as will be 

 seen from the following tabular statement, which gives 

 statistics of the industry in both districts for 1908 in 

 comparison with certain earlier years: 



The large increase in the weight of product in the 

 Ohio River district is due entirely to the weight of 

 mussel shells reported in 1908. Except for these 

 products both the weight and the value of the Ohio 

 River product would have been less than half as much 

 in 1908 as in 1899, when no mussel-shell products 

 were reported. The falling off in the product of the 



