CHAPTER IX. 

 EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 1 



Comparison with domestic production. — The exports 

 of domestic fishery products for the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1908, were valued at $6,166,193, and the 

 imports for consumption for the same period were 

 valued at $13,135,724, or $6,969,531 more than the 

 exports. 



Fresh fish formed but a small part of either the 

 exports or the imports. The exports and imports of 

 fresh fish were essentially to and from near-by countries, 

 and so far as they are distinguishable and reported 

 separately amounted in value to only $87,379 and 

 $1,772,164, respectively. When these amounts are 

 deducted from the gross exports and imports there 

 remain the large sums of $6,078,814 and $11,363,560, 

 representing, respectively, the value of the exports 

 and imports of fishery products other than fresh fish 

 during the fiscal year 1908. Obviously, therefore, 

 any comparison of exports and imports with domestic 

 production must deal with the products of the fish 

 canning and preserving industry rather than with the 

 main products of the fisheries. The statistics of 

 domestic production, exports, and imports may be 

 correlated so as to show in a general way the value of 

 the fishery products available for consumption. Such 

 a comparison is, however, necessarily defective, not 

 only because the values of products in the census of 

 the fisheries are those reported by the fishermen or the 

 manufacturers, while the values of products exported 

 and imported, are the commercial values at the port 

 and may be therefore considerably different, but also 

 because there is no record of the value of the stock 

 on hand at the beginning and at the end of the year. 

 Furthermore, the statistics for exports and imports 

 are those for the fiscal year ended June 30, while those 

 for the fisheries are for the calendar year. The prod- 

 ucts of fish canning and preserving establishments, 

 however, inclusive of those of Alaska, had a value 

 of $35,902,847 in 1908. As a considerable amount of 

 fish was cured or preserved by the fishermen, this 

 should be added to the products of the fish canning 

 and preserving establishments, for comparative pur- 

 poses; and as these exports and imports of fishery 

 products include oil, whalebone, and sponges, the 

 amounts reported for these products by the fisheries 

 should be also added. The sum secured by making 

 these combinations, $38,910,295, represents the value 



1 The figures used in this chapter have been taken from "Com- 

 merce and Navigation of the United States," Bureau of Statistics, 

 Department of Commerce and Labor. 



(288) 



for the domestic production which is in a general way 

 comparable with the figures for the exports and 

 imports of fishery products other than fresh fish. This 

 total comprises the products of the fish canning and 

 preserving industry in continental United States, 

 $35,902,847; fish salted and smoked by fishermen, 

 $1,948,635; fish oil, whale oil, and sea-elephant oil, 

 $298,717; whalebone, $215,226; and sponges, $544,870. 

 The excess of the value of imports over that of exports, 

 $6,969,531, added to the above total, gives the sum of 

 $45,879,826 for the United States consumption of 

 fishery products other than fresh fish, of which amount 

 15 per cent represented imports and 85 per cent the 

 domestic production. 



Comparison of exports and imports. — In 1890 and 

 previous years the total exports of fishery products 

 exceeded the imports, and the balance of trade was in 

 favor of the United States; but by 1895 the balance 

 had shifted and the imports exceeded the exports, 

 and since the latter year the balance of trade has uni- 

 formly been against the United States. The differ- 

 ence increased rapidly, until in 1907 and 1908 the debit 

 balance of trade was in excess of the total value of the 

 exports. 



The following tabular statement gives the values of 

 the imports and exports of fishery products for cer- 

 tain years since 1875, and the resulting balances. This 

 statement includes the value of all fish, whether fresh, 

 canned, or otherwise treated, fish and whale oil, whale- 

 bone, and sponges. 



In the case of whale oil the excess of imports over 

 exports did not begin until 1900; whalebone exports, 

 on the other hand, have always exceeded imports, but 

 by varying amounts. It will be seen that the growth 

 in the debit balance is due chiefly to a marked in- 

 crease in the value of imports. Table 1, on page 291, 



