FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



247 



of the total value of products of this class of fisheries, 

 while market oysters ranked second, contributing 39 

 per cent of the total. 



The shore and boat fisheries contributed 64 per 

 cent of the total value of the fishery product of the 

 state and 62 per cent of the total quantity. With the 

 exception of red snapper, every species which entered 

 into the state product was included in the catch of 

 this branch of the fisheries. Oysters were the leading 

 species, their value forming 37 per cent of the value 

 of all shore and boat products. Squeteague, channel 

 bass, and catfish were the leading species of fish proper 

 reported by the shore and boat fisheries, and com- 

 prised 36 per cent of the quantity and furnished 37 

 per cent of the value of the total- product of this class 

 of fisheries. The remainder of the product is evenly 

 distributed. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. — The distribution 

 by apparatus of capture of the value of the products 

 for the state as a whole and for each class of fisheries 

 is shown in the following tabular statement : 



Dredges, tongs, etc., were used exclusively in the 

 oyster industry. Though ranking first with respect 

 to value of catch in the state as a whole, contributing 

 37 per cent of the total value of products, this class of 

 apparatus ranked second in importance for each class 

 of fisheries, being surpassed in the vessel fisheries by 

 fines and in the shore and boat fisheries by seines. The 

 products taken with seines, which represented 34 per 

 cent of the total value of products for the state, in- 

 cluded almost every species taken. The value of 

 squeteague and channel bass constituted over one- 

 half of the total value of the seine catch. The value 

 of the catch by lines, which ranked third in importance, 

 formed 23 per cent of the total value of the fishery 

 products of the state. Practically all of the catch in 

 the vessel fisheries was made by lines, dredges, tongs, 

 etc., and seines. The value of the line catch, which 

 consisted chiefly of red snapper, formed 50 per cent 

 of the total value of products for this class of fisheries; 

 that of the catch with dredges, tongs, etc., 39 per cent; 

 and that of the seine catch, 1 1 per cent. In the shore 

 and boat fisheries the value of the catch with seines 

 represented 47 per cent, and the value of the catch with 

 dredges, tongs, etc., 37 per cent of the total value of 

 the catch. Lines ranked third in this class of fisheries, 

 half of the catch with this form of apparatus being com- 

 posed of catfish. 



Oysters. — The yield of market oysters aggregated 

 490,000 bushels, with a value of $167,000. Of the total 

 quantity, 63 per cent was reported for the shore and 

 boat fisheries and 37 per cent for the vessel fisheries. 

 The bulk of the catch was from public areas, only 3,400 

 bushels, valued at 11,200, being from private areas. 

 The entire product reported from private areas was 

 credited to the shore and boat fisheries. The seed 

 oyster product was small, 5,700 bushels, valued at 

 $400, being taken from public areas in the vessel 

 fisheries, and 1,800 bushels, valued at $200, from pub- 

 lic areas in the shore and boat fisheries. The value of 

 the oyster product formed about the same proportion 

 of the total value of products in the two classes of 

 fisheries, the percentages being 37 for the shore and 

 boat fisheries and 39 for the vessel fisheries. The aver- 

 age price per bushel for market oysters was 34 cents. 

 The oyster product for a series of years is shown in the 

 following tabular statement: 



The increase in the oyster yield accounts for a large 

 part of the gain made by the fisheries of the state since 

 1902 and during previous years. The variations in the 

 fishery products, which are shown in the tabular state- 

 ment on page 245, conform in general to the fluctua- 

 tions in the oyster product. 



Bed snapper. — The value of the red-snapper catch 

 formed nearly 30 per cent of that of all fish proper, 

 while the weight formed 34 per cent of the total weight. 

 This species was taken entirely with lines and wholly 

 in the vessel fisheries. Its value formed 49 per cent 

 of the value of the entire catch of the vessel fisheries 

 and 81 per cent of the value of all fish proper taken in 

 these fisheries. The growth of the red-snapper fishery 

 since 1890 has been remarkable. In 1902 the value 

 of the catch exceeded that of oysters, but an increase 

 in yield has been accompanied by a decrease in value, 

 while in the case of oysters the value increased at a 

 higher rate than' the quantity. The following tabu- 

 lar statement gives statistics of the catch for those 

 years for which figures are available : 



