Daily Kennebec journal., 1882-05-04

| '"e CENSUS bureau published on Saturdsx
summary of the statistics of the .e. e.h.-
les OF Maine. prepared by R. Edx.rd I'll,
=. 'ne nsh commission. special agent. In
n'' 'e''er transmitting the statistics to Prof
'oooe' special agent in charge of the fishery
'h'estigation, Mr.. Earll SAYS: From an e,-
animation of the tables. it ia fo,nd H.. e
tue oyster industry be neglected, Maine rank.
second only to Massachusetts, in the er,en,
u saiue OF her sea fisheries The foIlow.
s nsures snow the extent of the fishing in.
e,sss OF the State, in so far as thew relate
o7, ~ 'ne yea nsheries: Persons EMPLOYED. IL
~ vessels employed, 6O6 TONNAGE of s.n.
63'265; fishing boats, $50; capifal denand
ent on the fishery industries, S3. Az eaa
pou"os Oh sea products as they come from
'"e water, 2O2.O4S, ,449 value of sea produc,.
mey come from the water, 81. 79O $40
pounds OF sea products after being prena -ed
~, 'he market, ll6, l22 ,O48; enhancement of
'ai. 10 process OF preparation, 81, ,s23. .329
'aiue of sea products in marketable cond;
tion. S3,6l4,l7s. ''Hui-
similar statement for the river f;sber;e,
as SHOWN by Mr.. Atkins, would be: Person.
e"pioyed, J59l capital dependent. s7s 3os
pounds OF flsh as they come from the water
i.ioo'=f4 pounds of fish in marketable con
u,ioh, o,Iof.I Io0; value Of river products a.
u, oi<o'ofo. BY combining the tables Of
sea and river fisheries we have tho foI,n'.;a
TOTALS % Tor the fishery interests of the State
PERSONS employed. l2, ,662; capital invested
50 '454, ,3O2; pounds of fishery products as
.ney come from the water, 2O6. .778, 693
POUNDS OF fishery products in marketable
eohoition' il9,9l6,2 ,22S; value of fishery pro
uuGus IN marketable condition, SO. 739 224
Inc iZ,662 persons are all that can be CON-
eiuereo as actually engaged in the fisheries or
I'D preparation Of fishery products. and hence
are the only ones included in the tables I'm,
IN ADDITION, large number are engaged IN
transporting the products to the larger mar
kets, IN building and repairing fishing vessels
making and repairing sails, manufacturing
ooaes, barrels and cans for packing the catch
ih's ciass should be considered if we are to
nave correct impression of the fishing inter
ests Of the State A rough estimate wonid
place the number of people employed in this
way at $500 making a total Of over Is 600
directly and indirectly engaged in the work
assuming that 5000 of these have familie.
averaging four persons "a wife and three
cnlidren) depending on them, and that 3, 900
OF the remainder are persons largely depend
ent upon their own resources we have a total
OF 5000 people, equal to about "a per cent
OF the total population of the State, deriving
considerable portion of their support from
the fishing industries
1t should not be forgotten, however. that
many of the fishermen mentioned above are
not wholly dependent upon the fisheries for
livelihood. Some of them have small farms.
from which they derive a considerable income
while others "ship" on the c0asting vessels or
find employment as mechanics or laborers on
shore during those months when the fisheries
cannot be advantageously prosecuted. This
Is especially true of the river fishermen who
as rule, fish only for a few weeks or months
during the height of the season, after which
they return to their farms or their shops.
The value of the fishery products in mar
ketable condition is shown to be So 739 pa
This is as far as accurate statistics will war
rant us in going, but it must not be forgotten
that the cost OF the products to the consumer
is greatly increased in various wavs chief
among which are the transportation charge.
and the profits of the various middlemen
who handle them. A low estimate of the in
crease from these sources would be S3 ,O00-
600, which. added to the original value of the
fish. woIld show a cost to the consumer of
nearly ST, $50 900.
THE POPULATION.
The census bureau also publishes the fol-
lowing table of ''selected statistics of the