FISHERIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
105 
Of the total sum invested in the shore fisheries, viz, $515,095, $237,469, or nearly 
half, represents boats, which are employed to the number of 5,990. In the number of 
boats Hancock County is first with 1,371, valued at $62,962, closely followed by Cum- 
berland County with 1,232, worth $40,348, although in the item of value of boats 
Washington County ranks second, the 930 boats there used being worth $59,106. 
Penobscot County has only 24 boats, valued at $248. 
Lobster pots are the most numerous form of apparatus of capture in the shore 
fisheries, and their aggregate value is far in excess of that of any other device. In 
1889 they were used to the number of 121,250, the value of which was $108,812. 
Washington and Hancock counties had 65,861 pots, or considerably more than half. 
Knox, Lincoln, and Cumberland counties each had between 10,000 and 20,000 pots. 
The next most valuable forms of apparatus are the weirs, of which 273, valued at 
$52,022, were operated in 1889. They are chiefly used in the capture of herring for 
smoking and canning, and are most numerous in the region east of the Penobscot 
River, especially in Washington County, which has more than half of the total number 
set in the State. 
Trap nets rank next to weirs in value. They are chiefly used in the region west 
of and including the Penobscot River, in the counties of Hancock, Waldo and Saga- 
dahoc. Salmon is the species for which they are principally set. The value of the 
trap nets operated in 1889 was $33,000. 
Gill nets are important means of capture in all counties but Penobscot and Waldo. 
Over 3,500 were fished in 1889, the value of which was $32,973. 
Pound nets are sparingly used in five counties, the greatest number being in Cum- 
berland County. The total number set was 33, valued at $14,895, pound nets thus 
being relatively the most expensive form of apparatus in the shore fisheries of Maine. 
Nearly equal in point of value to pound nets are the hand lines and trawl lines, 
worth $14,790. These are extensively used in all counties but Penobscot and Waldo, 
which have no ocean frontage and are therefore not interested in the line fisheries for 
ground fish which the position of the other counties makes important. 
The only other forms of apparatus deserving special mention are bag nets and 
seines. The former are used to the number of 280, chiefly in the eastern counties ; 
their total value is $11,570. Seines are most extensively employed in Hancock and 
Cumberland counties, which have 70 of the 75 seines fished in the State, Lincoln 
County having only 5 and none of the other counties having any. 
Considering the aggregate investment by counties, it is seen that Hancock County 
takes the first position with $141,031, after which come Washington County with 
$113,987, Cumberland County with $69,626, and Knox County with $50,113. Saga- 
dahoc, York, and Lincoln counties have from $34,000 to $45,000 each; Waldo County 
has only $16,382 and Penobscot County only $1,658. 
The table of products shows 91,201,034 pounds of fish, inollusks, crustaceans, etc., 
taken in the shore fisheries of Maine in 1889; these were worth, at first hands, 
$1,420,239. Hancock County is considerably in advance of any other county in both 
the quantity and value of products, the figures being 27,017,744 pounds, valued at 
$428,711, of which 8,374,771 pounds, with a value of $197,089, represent lobsters. Sec- 
ond in rank is Washington County, with 21,148,162 pounds, worth $275,981; here the 
most important species is herring, of which 9,118,550 pounds, valued at $116,159, were 
taken, followed by lobsters, the catch of which was 7,251,790 pounds, for which the 
