FISHES 



227 



The cod fishery employs more men and more vessels 

 than any other fishery in the United States. There are 

 hundreds of vessels and thousands of men employed in 

 catching cod. The annual catch amounts to more than 

 ninety-six million pounds, with a first value of about two 

 million dollars. 



The herring fishery is also very extensive. These fishes 

 go in immense shoals, a single shoal sometimes covering 

 several square miles and containing two or three billion 

 individuals. It is estimated that between one and two bil- 

 lion pounds of herring are taken every year. 



The annual value of the salmon taken on our Pacific 

 coast, including Alaska, exceeds thirteen million dollars. 

 The two species, chinook and blueback, comprise the 

 greater portion of the catch represented by this vast 

 amount, the catch of the other three species being insig- 

 nificant in comparison. 



The common whitefish which is an in- 

 habitant of the Great Lakes region, from 

 Lake Superior to Lake Champlain, furnishes 

 a food product valued at nearly three 

 million dollars a year. 



The New England catch of mackerel 

 amounts to about six million pounds, valued 

 at about four hundred thousand dollars, and 

 sixteen thousand barrels salted, valued at 

 one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. 



The halibut, menhaden, anchovy, sardine, 

 trout, red snapper, pompano, sturgeon, blue- 

 fish, and scores of others swell the aggre- 

 gate value of the food fishes of America to almost fabulous 

 figures. 



Fig. 161. — Sea 

 horse. 



