282 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



29,235,301 pounds, $401,031; mackerel, from 6,703,301 pounds, 

 $301,861, to 17,621,322 pounds, $080,985; pollock, from 7,081,037 

 pounds, $13,015, to 12,175,656 pounds, §117,768; squeteague, from 

 1,371,910 pounds, $39,518, to 3,770,217 pounds, $90,252; whiting or 

 silver hake, from 37,200 pounds, $192, to 2,286,200 pounds, $7,885; 

 clams, hard and soft, from 1,981,187 pounds, $153,318, to 3,133,951 " 

 pounds, $288,386; lobsters, from 1,693,711 pounds, $117,702, to 

 1,695,688 pounds, $175,096, and squid, from 1,069,125 pounds, $11,620, 

 to 5,365,076 pounds, $25,310. The catch of cod has decreased in quan- 

 tity from 71,311,978 pounds to 69,521,385 pounds, but has increased 

 in value from $1,107,039 to $1,772,912. Hake have decreased in catch 

 from 21,331,816 pounds to 11,357,951 pounds, and increased in value 

 from $163,631 to $191,379. Scup have decreased from 1,013,625 

 pounds to 588,900 pounds in quantit}", and increased from $11,253 to 

 $11,978 in value. 



The decrease in the catch of cod was reported to have been largely 

 due to the great abundance of dog-fish along the coast, which often 

 destroyed the trawls and the fish on them, and drove the uncaught 

 fish from the fishing grounds. 



Cod roe, and sometimes that of haddock, is shipped to France for 

 use as bait in the sardine fisheries. The quantity of this product saved 

 by the fishermen in 1902 as compared with the returns for 1898 has 

 increased from 700 pounds, valued at $18, to 16,700 pounds, valued at 

 $531. 



The halibut n«hery on the Atlantic coast has decreased greatly in 

 recent years. From 1875 to 1880 the entire catch of this species in 

 the fisheries of Massachusetts, varying from 9,000,000 to 16,000,000 

 pounds a year, was from fishing banks in the Atlantic Ocean. Halibut 

 from the Pacific coast were introduced into eastern markets by the 

 shipment of a few carloads in 1880. In 1898 a Boston firm fitted out 

 a steamer for catching halibut in the North Pacific Ocean, and, encour- 

 aged by the success of the enterprise, in 1902 fitted out another. The 

 total catch of halibut by Massachusetts vessels in 1902 was 12,155,931 

 pounds, valued at $618,613. Of this quantity 7,136,931 pounds fresh 

 and salted, valued at $117,883, was from the Atlantic, and 5,019,000 

 pounds fresh, valued at $200,760, from the Pacific coast. 



The mackerel catch in 1902 was taken chiefly b}'^ 108 vessels, carrj^- 

 ing 168 purse seines. The fleet included 103 schooners and 5 steamers, 

 9 of the schooners having auxiliar}^ power b}^ the use of gasoline. In 

 Essex County there w^ere 87 vessels with 111 purse seines, in Suffolk 

 County 15 vessels with 18 purse seines, in Plymouth County 2 vessels 

 with 2 purse seines, and in Barnstable County 1 vessels with 7 purse 

 seines. Large quantities of mackerel also were taken by vessels and 

 boats with gill nets and hand lines, and in the pound-net and trap-net 

 fisheries. The fish were generall}' large, and as a result the small 



