FISHERIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
89 
The most interesting comparison is that which relates to the results of the fisheries. 
It is found that the general food-fish fisheries have experienced a serious decline in the 
three most northern States of the section, and that in the two southern States there 
has been a satisfactory improvement, the net decrease being $1,843,517 ; this decrease 
may be accounted for by the scarcity of mackerel. A return of this species in its 
former abundance would place additional products on the market having a value much 
greater than the difference noted. The fisheries for clams, oysters, scallops, and other 
mollusks have advanced in every State except New Hampshire, and exhibit a total 
net excess over 1880 of $944,752. The value of lobsters and other crustaceans was 
$312,346 greater in 1889 than in 1880, the principal part of this sum representing the 
lobster fishery of Maine. The menhaden fishery in New England has increased $30,202 
since 1880, notwithstanding the fact that much of the capital formerly devoted to the 
industry in Massachusetts and Connecticut has been diverted into other channels. 
In Rhode Island, which is the most important center of the menhaden fishery, the 
increase in the value of fish caught has been $109,715. As is well known, the whale 
and seal fisheries are much less extensively prosecuted than in 1880, and the large 
decrease of $1,396,163 is not surprising. Considering the aggregate results of the 
fisheries, the table shows that the net decrease in the value of products was $1,952,380, 
or 15.62 per cent. Connecticut has undergone the largest increase, amounting to 
66.89 per cent, and New Hampshire shows the largest decrease, 48.13 per cent. 
13. — Comparative table showing the number of persons employed in the fisheries of the New England States in 
1880 and 1889. 
State. 
Fishermen. 
Shoresmen. 
Total. 
Increase 
or de- 
crease in 
Percent- 
age of in- 
crease or 
decrease 
in 1889. 
1880. 
1889. 
1880. 
1889. 
1880. 
1889. 
Maine 
8, 110 
8,885 
2, 961 
5,244 
11, 071 
14, 129 
+ 3, 058 
+ 27. 62 
New Hampshire 
376 
’335 
38 
30 
414 
365 
— 49 
— 11. 83 
Massachusetts 
17, 165 
14, 599 
2,952 
2,639 
20, 117 
17, 238 
— 2, 879 
— 14. 31 
Bhode Island 
1,602 
1,284 
708 
473 
2, 310 
1, 757 
— 553 
— 23.94 
Connecticut 
2,585 
2, 314 
546 
733 
3, 131 
3, 047 
— 84 
— 2.68 
Total 
29,838 
27, 417 
7, 205 
9, 119 
37,043 
36, 536 
— 507 
— 1.37 
14. — Comparative table showing the number and value of vessels, boats, etc., employed in the fisheries of the 
New England States in 1880 and 1889. 
States. 
Vessels. 
Boats. 
1880. 
1889. 
1880. 
1889. 
No. 
Net ton- 
nage. 
Value. 
No. 
Net ton- 
nage. 
Value. 
No. 
Value. 
No. 
Value. 
Maine 
574 
16, 529. 66 
$598, 892 
408 
13, 136. 67 
$599, 165 
5,920 
$245, 624 
5, 990 
$237, 469 
New Hampshire . . 
23 
1, 019. 05 
51, 500 
15 
588. 05 
32, 000 
211 
7,780 
73 
4, 170 
Massachusetts 
1, 007 
81, 080. 49 
3, 171, 189 
836 
59, 259. 30 
3,098,345 
6,749 
351, 736 
3, 494 
254, 033 
Bhode Island 
92 
2, 502. 77 
191, 850 
69 
1,484.79 
196, 950 
734 
61, 245 
651 
62, 743 
Connecticut 
291 
9, 215. 95 
514, 050 
214 
5, 269. 68 
525, 550 
1, 173 
73, 585 
1,353 
98,595 
Total 
1,987 
110, 347. 92 
4, 527, 481 
1,542 
79, 738. 49 
4, 452, 010 
14, 787 
739, 970 
11,561 
657,010 
