FISHERIES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 
465 
The investment ill tlie lisliiiig' industry in 1880 was $14,590,759; in 1891 it was 
$4,721,905, or 32 per cent greater. Tlie increase occurred in i^ew York, Yew Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, while the other States showed a decline. About 200 
fewer vessels were employed in 1891, but the value of vessels in the latter year was 
somewhat greater, indicating an improvemeut in their size and quality. The number 
of boats employed increased about 15,000 and their value $800,000. The use of gill 
nets, pound nets, fykes, jiots, and minor apparatus greatly increased. Perhaps the 
most remarkable change in respect to the apparatus emiiloyed was in the pound nets. 
Of these, only 348 were operated iu 1880, while in 1891 there were 2,414. In Maryland 
the number rose from 83 to 1,005 and in Virginia from 185 to 941. The only imj)ortant 
form of apparatus , which underwent a decline was the seine, of which 2,580 were used 
iu the former year and only 1,808 in the latter. The decrease occurred iu Yew York, 
Yew Jersey, and Delaware. The shore pro])erty connected with the industry was 
augmented more than 55 per cent, and the cash capital increased about 13 per cent, 
although in Virginia there was a conspicuous diminution iu the last-named item. 
Eeducing all the products to the common unit of a pound, as explained in the 
introductory chapter, it appears that in 1880 the yield of the fisheries was 002,789,081 
pounds, valued at $10,835,238. The figures for 1891 are 590,454,309 pounds, worth 
$19,023,474. The apparent inconsistency of a diminished catch aud an augmented 
value is easily understood from an examination of the table. The decreased yield 
may be regarded as being made up almost wholly of menhaden, of which 148,175,390 
fewer pounds were obtained in 1891 than iu 1880. The omission of this relatively 
cheap fish from the statistics would leave the year 1891 Avith an augmented yield of 
over 75,000,001) pounds, having a value of over $2,500,000. The fishery objects which 
have undergone a noticeable increase iu importance, as judged by a larger catch, are 
numerous. Chief amoug these is the shad, the yield of Avhich was 18,000,000 pounds 
greater in 1891. The catch of alewives was 15,613,000 pounds more, bluefish 6,820,000 
poumls, and sea bass 4,051,000 x)ouuds, the rate of increase for these fish being 148 
per cent, 77 iier cent, 82 jAer cent, and 272 i)er cent, respectively. Cod, scrip, sheeps- 
head, Spanish mackerel, and striped bass har^e decreased iu abundance. The figures 
for oysters show a small increase; soft crabs and round clams ju’esent a marked 
advance; while the yield of soft clams, hard crabs, and terrapins has greatly declined. 
The three tables which follow give comjrarative figures for the fisheries of this 
region : 
Comparative statement of number of persons employed in the fisheries of the Middle Jtlantic 
States in ISSO and 1891. 
States. 
Nisliermen and 
Transporters. 
vShoresmen. 
Tot-al. 
Increase 
01 ' decrease 
in 1891. 
Percent- 
age of in- 
crease 
or decrease 
iu 1891. 
1880. 
1891. 
1880. 
1891. 
1880. 
1891. 
Xew York 
New Jersey 
I’ennsylvauia 
Delaware 
jVIarylaiid 
Virginia 
Total 
4, 72S 
5, 059 
397 
1, 002 
15, 873 
16, 051 
11. 204 
10, 107 
1, 984 
1. 799 
28, 209 
20, 316 
1,616 
561 
41 
317 
10,135 
2,813 
2, 042 
532 
289 
431 
11, 735 
3, 275 
6, 344 
6, 220 
438 
1, 979 
26. 008 
18, 804 
12, 246 
10, 039 
2, 273 
2, 230 
39, 944 
23, 591 
-1- 5,902 
4- 4,419 
+ 1,835 
-f 251 
+ 13,936 
+ 4,727 
+ 93.03 
+ 71.05 
+ 418. 95 
+ 12.68 
+ 54.43 
+ 25. C6 
44, 370 
73, 619 
15, 483 
18, 304 
59, 853 
90,923 
+31,070 
+ 51. 91 
F. C. B. 1894—30 
