272 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



Statistics as to the number of the more important 

 kinds of apparatus of capture are given in the follow- 

 ing tabular statement : 



All the vessels and all but a small number of the 

 boats were power craft. Of the more important kinds 

 of apparatus of capture, gill nets were most numerous, 

 and were used principally in the vessel fisheries. 



Products, by species. — Table 1, on page 274, gives sta- 

 tistics relating to products, by species and by apparatus 

 of capture. Six species — lake trout, herring, buffalo 

 fish, whitefish, yellow perch, and German carp — con- 

 tributed 84 per cent of the total product for the state, 

 while their value formed 87 per cent of the total value. 



Products, by fishing grounds. — Tables 2, 3, and 4, on 

 pages 275 and 276, give the products, respectively, of 

 the Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, and the Lake 

 Superior districts. The latter supplied only 5 per cent 

 of the total value of the fishery product of the state. 

 Of the seven species which made up the product of this 

 district, lake herring and trout contributed, respectively, 

 53 per cent and 40 per cent of the value of the total 

 catch from the district.' 



Products, by class of fisheries. — Tables 5 and 6, on 

 pages 276 and 277, give, by species and by apparatus 

 of capture, statistics as to the products of the vessel and 

 the shore and boat fisheries of the state. Similar sta- 

 tistics are given for the vessel fisheries, respectively, 

 of the Lake Michigan and the Lake Superior districts, 

 in Tables 7 and 9; and for the shore and boat fish- 

 eries of the respective districts, in Tables 8 and 10. 

 The fisheries of the Mississippi River district were all 

 of the shore and boat class. 



Total... 



Lake trout. .. 

 Lake herrmg. 

 Buffalo fish. . 



Whitefish 



Perch, yellow. 

 Carp, German 

 All other 



value of products: 1908. 



Total. 



81,067,000 



340,000 

 322,000 

 103,000 

 66,000 

 55, 000 

 62,000 

 137,000 



Vessel 

 fisheries. 



$425,000 



200, 000 

 173,000 



26,000 



15, 000 



800 



11,000 



Shore and 



boat 

 fisheries. 



$642, 000 



140,000 

 150,000 

 103,000 

 30,000 

 39,000 

 52,000 

 127, 000 



The value of the catch made in the vessel fisheries 

 and that of the catch made in the shore and boat fish- 

 eries formed 40 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively, 

 of the value of the total state product. In the product 

 of the vessel fisheries lake trout was the leading 

 species with respect to value and lake herring ranked 

 second, while in the catch reported for the shore and 

 boat fisheries the- order of these species was reversed. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. — The following 

 tabular statement shows the distribution of the total 

 value of products according to apparatus of capture, 

 for the state, for each class of fisheries, and for the 

 three districts: 



Lake trout. — This species, which contributed 32 per 

 cent of the total value of the fishery products, of the 

 state, was taken wholly in the lakes, 93 per cent of the 

 quantity reported coming from Lake Michigan. Sta- 

 tistics concerning the catch as reported for the state in 

 previous years are as follows: 



Lake herring. — The value of the lake-herring prod- 

 uct in 1908 was nearly 40 per cent greater than that 

 of the largest catch previously reported — the catch of 

 1899 — though the weight of the latter was greater by 

 343,000 pounds. The following tabular statement 

 shows the quantity and value of the catch as reported 

 at the various canvasses : 



