FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES. 
305 
THE SHORE FISHING INDUSTRIES. 
'The shore enterprises of North Carolina dependent on the fisheries are of great 
interest and importance, and their development is, in many cases, a true index of the 
condition of the fisheries with which they are connected. The branches to which 
attention may be directed are the porpoise industry, the menhaden industry, the 
wholesale fish trade, the oyster-canning industry, and the wholesale oyster trade. 
The prominent features of each of these is shown in the following tables, which are 
presented in a condensed form in order to avoid that disclosure of private interests 
which would, in many instances, ensue if the counties were specified. 
The porpoise industry. — The porpoise industry and the fishery which it supports 
are of less extent than formerly, owing to the diminished inducements offered to the 
fishermen by the low prices received for the raw products. In 1889 and 1890 only two 
firms were engaged in handling the porpoises, in preparing their hides, and in trying 
out their oil. The number of porpoises killed was 2,283 in 1889, and 1,747 in 1890, for 
which the fishermen received $0,097 and $4,398, respectively. The resulting manu- 
factured products were valued at $13,757 in 1889, and $10,350 in 1890. 
The menhaden industry. — North Carolina is the most southern State in which the 
menhaden fishery and industry are carried on. The fishery is the only one, except 
that for oysters, in which vessels are employed, and it is the only offshore vessel 
fishery in the State, although a considerable part of the fish handled are caught in the 
sounds adjacent to the ocean and not in the ocean itself. The business is centered at 
or in the vicinity of Beaufort, where seven factories were in operation in 1889 and six 
in 1890. The capital invested in the latter year in buildings, vessels, apparatus, etc., 
was $97,500; the number of persons employed was 187; the value of the fish handled 
was $10,171; and the value of the manufactured products was $38,727. 
The wholesale fish trade. — The business of buying fish from the fishermen and 
shipping the catch to market engaged the attention of 23 wholesale firms in 1889 
and 1890. These handled in 1889 4,501,387 pounds of fresh and salt fish, and 07,200 
pounds of mollusks and reptiles, for which $141,931 was paid to the fishermen; and in 
1890 5,571,790 pounds of fresh and salt fish and 03,650 pounds of reptiles, etc., the 
cost price of which was $166,074. The selling price of the products was $219,903 and 
$257,120, respectively, so that the gross profits of the trade were $77,972 in 1889 and 
$91,046 in 1890. 
The oyster industry. — The canning of oysters in North Carolina is a business 
which has sprung up within the past few years and become of considerable impor- 
tance in two counties — Pasquotank and Beaufort. In 1889 only two firms engaged 
in the industry, but iu 1890 the number had increased to five. The 1,362 persons 
employed in the latter year received $83,450 in wages. The quantity of oysters 
bought was 375,500 bushels in 1889 and 861,262 bushels in 1890, for which $121,425 
and $290,232, respectively, were paid. The oysters Avere put up in 2,101,320 one- 
pound and two-pound cans worth $207,358 in 1889, and 4,886,112 cans worth $477,189 
in 1890. 
The oyster-packing trade in 1890 was engaged in by twelve firms located in 
Pasquotank and Washington counties. Nearly half a million bushels of oysters were 
utilized for opening, for which the fishermen received $170,989; the shell oysters 
yielded 326,630 gallons, the market value of which was $340,361. 
F. C. B. 1891—20 
