FISHERIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 
147 
THE FISH TRADES OF BOSTON AND GLOUCESTER. 
A noticeable feature of the fishery interests of Massachusetts is the great volume 
of trade entering at Gloucester and Boston, which are the receiving and distributing 
centers of marine food products for New England, to such an extent that they practi- 
cally control this branch of commerce. Maine has extensive canning interests and 
produces large quantities of salt and fresh fish, but has no very important trade center 
for fishing products, and the bulk of its output is marketed in Massachusetts. For 
this reason the tables showing the fish trade of the two leading ports of New Eng- 
land will throw an instructive side light upon the fisheries of this region. 
Tables 84 and 85 make an exhibit of the fish trade of Gloucester and Boston. 
Heretofore no statistics of this nature have been prepared, and there has been no 
definite knowledge of the extent of the fish trade in these ports. The magnitude of 
the trade will probably be a matter of considerable surprise to many. 
Gloucester is the leading fish-producing center of the United States; its large and 
fine fleet of vessels engages in all the leading branches of ocean fishery except the 
mammal fisheries, from the Gulf of Mexico to Iceland; and its trade is chiefly in the 
products received from its own vessels, though considerable quantities of fish are 
obtained from other New England States and from the British provinces. 
Boston, while having a much smaller fleet than Gloucester, is a great distributing 
center of fishery products. It receives contributions from many sources. What is 
commonly denominated the market fishery of New England centers at Boston, where 
the fleets of the leading fishing ports resort to sell their catch. In addition to this, 
Boston imports from the British North American provinces, from various countries of 
Europe, and from Pacific and Atlantic ports, all kinds of fishery products. Its trade 
is very extensive, as will appear by the tables. 
From the table showing the extent of the wholesale fish trade of Gloucester it will 
be seen that the handling of salt fish is the most important branch of the business. 
This gave employment to 833 persons; $1,769,138 was invested in shore property 
and cash capital, and 114,296,733 pounds of raw products, worth $3,427,966, were 
handled, from which 92,833,991 pounds of boneless and other kinds of cured fish, with 
a value of $4,193,284, were prepared. The enhancement in value is thus $765,318, 
this sum representing the gross profits of the trade. 
The fresh-fish trade is the next in importance, although much less extensive than 
the preceding. The fish handled amounted to 11,671,331 pounds, valued at $491,636, 
and the quantity of fish sold was 10,229,994 pounds, for which $610,971 was received, 
the gross profits being $119,335. 
The business of smoking fish utilized 3,410,205 pounds of fish, worth $127,387, 
which, when smoke-cured, weighed 2,259,346 pounds, with a market value of $169,266, 
the gross profit amounting to $41,879. 
The difference between the quantities of fish bought and sold in the three fore- 
going trades is due to the waste in the process of curing, preparing, etc., as will be 
readily understood. 
The trade in and manufacture of fish oil is an important feature of the fish trade of 
Gloucester. The table shows 8,278,513 pounds of livers, crude oil, etc., purchased for 
$216,077 by the 8 wholesale dealers, who manufactured and handled 912,728 gallons 
of oil, for which they received $283,754. 
