158 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
98. — Table showing by customs districts the average tonnage, value, craw, and stock of vessels employed in the 
fisheries of Rhode Island in 1889. 
Customs districts. 
Average tonnage.] 
Average value. 
Average value of 
outfit and. ap- 
paratus. 
Average number 
of crew. 
Average gross 
stock . 
Fishing. 
Trans- 
porting. 
Fishing. 
Trans- 
porting. 
Fishing. 
Trans- 
porting. 
Fishing. 
Trans- 
porting. 
Fishing. 
Trans- 
porting.! 
Newport 
Bristol and Warren. 
Providence 
28.48 
9. 05 
10. 84 
10. 82 
$3, 948 
1. 467 
| 1. 407 
$375 
$876 
317 
$56 
3 
3 
2 
$7,556 
1, 002 
5, 354 
*$1,793 

* The value of products freighted. 
The quantities of fish obtained with the different forms of apparatus, together 
with their value, are next presented in a single table. Seines, gill nets, and harpoons 
take only a single species each, while lines are employed in the capture of four species. 
Seines are more important than all the other forms combined and are credited with 
112,580,000 pounds of menhaden, valued at $281,450; nets stocked only $83, on mack- 
erel; harpoons took swordfish to the value of $7,417, and the catch with lines was 
valued at $29,020, being made up of mackerel, cod, haddock, and blueflsh, the species 
ranking in the order given. 
99. — Table shoiving by apparatus and species the yield of the vessel fisheries of Rhode Island in 1889, exclusive 
of the molluscan and crustacean fisheries. 
Apparatus and species. 
Pounds. 1 Value. 
Apparatus and species. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Lines : 
Blueflsh, fresh 
Blueflsh, salted 
5, 500 
1, 800 
216, 940 
52, 276 
98, 120 
. 10, 640 
25, 692 
182, 000 
$350 
90 
6, 538 
1, 570 
2,207 
212 
15' 555 
Seines : 
Menhaden, fresh : 
Gill nets : 
Mackerel, fresh 
Harpoons : 
Swordfish, fresh 
112, 580, 000 
$281, 450 
Cod, fresh 
Cod. salted 
920 
83 
Haddock, salted 
Mackerel, fresh 
Mackerel, salted 
165, 990 
Total 
113, 339, 878 
| 317, 970 
592, 968 
29, 020 
More vessels of Rhode Island are engaged in the mackerel fishery than in any 
other branch. Although mackerel were scarce in 1889, the prevailing high price 
which the fish commanded was a strong incentive to undertake the pursuit of that 
species; 26 vessels, with a tonnage of 291.63, carrying 97 men, followed the fishery 
during the season, and ' took 208,612 pounds, for which $18,136 was received. The 
average stock per vessel was therefore $698, a sum considerably in excess of that ob- 
tained in the shore, swordfish, and lobster fisheries. 
The shore fishery had a fleet of 21 vessels, with a tonnage of 249.81, and with crews 
aggregating 84 men. The catch, consisting of blueflsh, cod, and haddock, amounted 
to 385,276 pounds, which was sold fresh and salted, the aggregate stock being $10,967, 
or an average of $522 per vessel. 
The menhaden fleet consisted of 16 sail, the total tonnage of which was 890.05. The 
value of the menhaden vessels was $137,000, an average of $8,563. This figure is un- 
usually large, and is due to the employment of steam vessels with a relatively high 
valuation per ton. The quantity of fish taken was 112,580,000 pounds, equivalent to 
188,007,600 fish, having a value of $281,450. The average stock of the vessels was 
