New England mackerel catch-amount of inspected barrels packed at home ports, and southern catch, as reported to the Boston Fish Bureau. The southern fleet united with the shore fleet after the early catch, making the total shore fleet 342 sail. 1 Many vessels packed from other ports included. 2 Many vessels packed away from home ports. 3 Weir catch, 769 barrels cured: 2,065 barrels fresh; 43 men. 4 All vessels packed away from home port. Receipts of fish by Boston dealers from foreign and domestic ports. Herring, smoked..boxes.. 3, 725 20, 400 38, 195 25, 282 7,747 36, 151 30, 826 39, 399 10, 659 12, 143 32, 462 77, 730 Bloaters, smoked...do.... 5,758 561 4,194 1,322 9,083 1,778 80 538 Boneless fish ..do.. 256 Receipts of fish by Boston dealers from foreign and domestic ports-Continued. .do... 50 951 3,899 118 6,586 699 916 2,318 114 851 46 1,423 870 4,331 51 1,377 223 845 188 844 946 210 594, 7,022 2,766 2,617 711 825 Chams, canned.. .do. 13, 429 500 974 30 787 250 Herring, smoked..boxes.. 11, 081 34, 789 6,650 42, 212 27, 665 48, 544 29, 793 12, 219 38, 446 63, 339 22, 550 36, 872 Bloaters Mackerel, canned ...do... 2,061 Large catches and stocks by the New England mackerel fleet off the United States coast, season of 1882. Schooners. Fresh. Cured. Net stock. Large catches and stocks by the New England mackerel fleet off the United States coast, season of 1882-Continued. Maud M. Story, Rockport, gross stock. 8,000.00 1,250 Dictator, Harwich, gross stock.. Ida C. Spofford, Boston, gross stock Roger Williams, North Haven, Me Henry Nickerson, North Haven, Me. Fish received by Boston dealers, 1878 to 1882. 8,000.00 bbls.. 31,881 78, 689143, 028 .do.. re ceipts. ceipts. 84, 213 795 5,727 6,522 1,351 5,682 7,033 33, 818 ..do.. 560 2,332 698 698 5,035 1,523 2,271 1,362 3,042 5,915 9,646 54 9,700 1882. For Domes- For tic re- eign re- Total. Domes tic re- eign re- Total. ceipts. ceipts. 8, 104 10, 288 1,997 2,977 The fishing industry of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Great Lakes. Most of the following notes and all the statistics have been taken from the advance bulletins of the United States Census Reports for 1880. They were collected under the superintendence of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, United States Commissioner of Fisheries, and Prof. G. Brown Goode, by the following special agents: For the Atlantic coast and Lakes, R. E. Earll, J. W. Collins, A. Howard Clark, Fred. Mather, N. E. Atwood, F. W. True, Ernest Ingersoll, Col. Marshall McDonald, W. A. Wilcox; for the Pacific coast, by Prof. D. S. Jordan, James G. Swan, and Dr. T. H. Bean. THE FISHERIES OF MAINE. It is found that, if the oyster industry be neglected, Maine ranks second only to Massachusetts in the extent and value of her sea fisheries. If the weight of the products alone is considered, the six principal species, placed in the order of their importance, are as follows: If, however, the money value is considered, the relative importance of the species is somewhat different. The following arrangement represents the fisheries according to their value: Herring fishery (including the sardine industry). Mackerel fishery. Cod fishery Lobster fishery.. Haddock fishery $1,043, 722 659, 304 656, 753 412, 076 278,336 225, 393 The statistics are intended to represent the fishing interests for 1880. The first lobsters ever canned within the limits of the United States were put up in Eastport, in 1842, and, with the exception of a limited business in Boston at various times, Maine has always had a monopoly of the industry for the entire country. In 1880 none were canned outside of the State, and the table, therefore, shows the extent of the business for the United States. The entire lobster catch of Maine for the year is found to be 14,234, 182 pounds, of which 4,739,898 pounds were sold fresh, and 9,494,284 pounds were put up by the 23 canneries located in different parts of the State. Several of these canneries were owned by Boston capitalists, but the great majority belonged to Portland dealers, who, in addition to their home interests, operated 17 canneries in the British Provinces. During the same season, according to the statistics furnished by them, they bought 10,588,578 pounds of live lobsters from the Provincial fishermen, from which they put up 2,198,024 cans of the various brands. The sardine industry is peculiar to Maine. In fact, if we except the menhaden, put up in New Jersey several years ago, under the name of "shadines," and "clubfish," the industry was, up to 1880, confined exclusively to the village of Eastport. Though experiments were made in the preparation of herring as sardines as early as 1866, the business did not practically begin till 1875, since which time it has grown with remarkable rapidity. In 1880, as shown by the tables, it furnished employment to over, 1,500 fishermen and factory hands, in addition to 376 fishermen belonging to New Brunswick, and the value of the products amounted to nearly $825,000. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Portsmouth, the only seaport of the State, in former years was quite largely interested in the fisheries, as producer, as well as having a large domestic and export trade. Of late years, in common with many other of the oldest settlements, the business has mostly moved to neighboring ports, and is limited to supplying the near home demand for fresh fish. MASSACHUSETTS. From the early settlement of the State to the present time Massachusetts has led all others in capital, products, and number of employees engaged in the fishing industry, 20,117 people being actively engaged in the numerous branches; 5,000 additional are engaged in the manufacture of nets, lines, fish boxes, cooperage, building of fishing crafts. Including the families of fishermen and others dependent on the fisheries, at least 100,000 persons are supported from this industry. The total value of the products for 1880 were, for fish alone, $5,054,900; shell fish, fish oil, and guano, $997,512; whale fishery, $2,089,337; total, $8,141,750. The total weights of fish caught that year amounted to 341,935,982 pounds, exclusive of any shellfish. The years 1881 and 1882 have been far more prosperous than the one above mentioned, and would show large gains in products as well as vessel tonnage. About 75,000,000 pounds of ice and 70,000,000 pounds of salt are annually used in the fisheries of the State. RHODE ISLAND. The fishing industry of this State is chiefly confined to oysters and its menhaden oil fisheries, with less attention paid to food fish. Total value of products, $880,915. CONNECTICUT. The value of the products for 1880 were as follows: Oysters, $710,875; fertilizers, $407,604; food fish, $338,387; total, $1,456,866. THE FISHERIES OF NEW YORK. New York takes an important part in the fisheries, coming fourth in the list of fishproducing States, with products valued at $4,380,565. In several special branches she holds a still more prominent position. Her menhaden fisheries are more extensive than those of any other State, and in 1880 the value of the oil, scrap, and compost reached $1,114,158, being more than half of the yield for the entire country. The value of the products of the oyster fisheries for the same period reached $1,577,050, which is greater than that for any of the other States, except Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. The New York fishermen secure annually larger quantities of both hard and soft clams than those of any other State; in 1880 the amount realized from the sale of these two species was $517,691. In the shad fisheries she ranks third on the list, the catch in 1880 reaching 2,733,600 pounds. THE FISHERIES OF NEW JERSEY. New Jersey produced in 1880 $3,176,589 worth of fishery products, taking the sixth place in the list of fish-producing States. In some of the special fisheries it takes a higher rank. Its oyster products, valued at $2,080,625, are exceeded only by those of Maryland and of Virginia. Its crab fisheries, from which the fishermen realize $162,612, are more extensive than those of any other State, while its quahaug (hard clam) fisheries are second only to those of New York. In the menhaden fisheries it stands fifth on the list, the oil, scrap, and compost produced in 1880 being valued at $146,286. Its river fisheries are of minor importance, the total yield being only 2,752,000 pounds, netting the fishermen $91,435. THE FISHERIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. Pennsylvania, though consuming large quantities of fishery products, has no important fishing-grounds within its borders. The principal business connected with the fisheries is the oyster industry, for, though no oysters are produced in the waters of the State, a large number of persons are engaged in transporting oysters from the southern beds to Philadelphia, and others make a business of receiving, shelling, and packing them for shipment. From this industry $187,500 is realized by the residents of the State. The sea fishing is confined to the capture of sea bass and other species by a fleet of eight vessels that make occasional trips to the fishing-grounds off Cape Henlopen during the summer months. Shad, sturgeon, and other less important species are taken in small quantities in the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and lake fish of different kinds are caught along the shores bordering Lake Erie. THE FISHERIES OF DELAWARE. The oyster industry, valued at $687,725, constitutes the principal fishery business of Delaware, over two-thirds of the money realized by the fishermen being derived from the capture and sale of this species. The other fishery interests of the State are very limited, being largely confined to the capture of salt-water species in the bays and sounds along the outer shore, and to the net-fishing for shad, sturgeon, and other species in Delaware River and its numerous tributaries. |