Waterbury Democrat., 1900-11-16
FIS HAND FISHERIES.
Annual Report of the United States
 Commission.

Commission.
 Washington. Nov 16.-The annual report of the United States conlmis- sioneI' of fish and fisheries. George M. Bowers. says the present amount of capital invested in the fisheries of the New England states is S19,G31 ,03t, showing q decrease of S4.3TOT5S since the commissions last statistical cnn- vass in 1889. This decrease. however. is stated to te only apparent. being acused chiefly by the transfer of the menhaden industry to New York. The New England food fisheries in he az gregate have increased in quantity and decreased only slightly in value. There are :55.445 persons employed in this work aud 1.42I vessels. valued with their equipment at s4.224 :}39. The total product is 3v3,:}t1, :570 pounds. worth S9,612, TOP, the fishery for cod. cuSk. haddock, hake and pollock rank ing first with value of g, 1S9. .1O9. fol- lowed by the oyster fishery of Rhode Island and Connecticut worth s1.91o.- 68i The lobster fishery is next in commercial Importance, being worth S1,21G.90O. While the catch has fallen from 3O,5U0,O0O pounds in 1S89, to f4.- GGo,00O in 1898, the price of lobsters has so advanced that the value of the industry has increased a conSidera ble degree.
 The inquiry conducted on Lake Erie in the calendar year 1S99 shows a de- rided increase in the fisheries of this lake since the last canvass ill quantity and value of the product, capital in vested and number Of persons en- ployed. This, is chiefly shown in the catch of white fish and lake herring. The yield of pike and perch, though large, is not considerably greater than in former years. Three thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight persons and 104 vessels are engaged iu the indus try, representing an investment of 52- 719600. Ia 1899. 58, ,393, 900 pounds of products were obtained. worth s115O.- 800. A feature of the fisheries is the number of carp which were taken. the catch amounting 10 over $500 GOO pounds. valued at s51,40O.
 The quantity of fishing products landed at Boston and Gloucester show an increase of more than B coo 900 pounds. with an increased value of over S1 100000. The bulk of the in- crease is to be credited to Gloucester The total products landed from Amer ican vessels at the two ports amount ed to 1I6,1I4.3 3o1 pounds. and were val ued at nearly S4.200.000
 Inquiries now in progress along the
 
 show that an increasing number of carp are being caught and shipped chiefly to the markets of the larger eastern cities. From Lake Erie and the Ohio river and certain Of it's tribu- taries the quantity Of this species taken is nine times as great as six years ago From the Illinois river more carp are taken than all other species combined, the catch for 1899 amounting to 6.3329 800 pounds. valued at S1S9. 800. It would appear that this fish will become more and more an inn portent factor in the food fish supply of the country The American fur searherd continues to decrease in num- bers through the continuance Of pelagic sealing and the recent counts show that fewer pups are born.
 The total number of fish distributed by tue government in the past fiscal year was 1.164.33G,7 an increase. principally of shad. flat fish. white fish and lake trout. of about 10O000,000 over the previous year Owing to the excessive drought in California in 1899 few salmon asscended Battle Creek and McCloud rivers as far as the hatch cries. The Columbia river (Oregon) re- suits were better, though the run of salmon was poor. An attempt will be made to rear all salmon fry to the yearlng stage before liberatine, them.
 At Baker Lake. Washington. the Dropagation of the sockeye and blue back salmon. perhaps the most impor- tant commercially of the Puget sound salmon. has begun. and over 10.60O.- GOO fry have been matched and plant ed there and in the Skagit river About 15.OOOOoO lake trout eggs were collect ed on Lake Michigan spawning grounds. and over 12.000.OOO from the Lake Superior grounds. At the Lake Erie station over 337 ,3S3 900 white fish eggs were matched and the fry liber- ated, gain of nearly 100000, 900 over the year before. Very satisfactory re- suits have been attained at the New England stations devoted to the propa- gation of marine commercial fishes. The decrease of lobster fishery in New England is shown by the large de- crease of men engaged in it. In the shad propagation the year showed an increase of 6000,OO0 more fry hatched and planted than last year
 The stocking of suitable streams with the various species of trout has been continued sDecial attention being paid to the distribution of brook trout and black and spotted trout.
 Investigations designed to give the practical assistance to the oyster in alstTy nave DSSI ttitGEleu OH. 1ue re- suits of the experiments in fattening oysters by increasing the productive ness i'll inclosed waters of their na tur- al food have given much encoura ge- ment.
 On Lake Ontario, where for sav- eral years there has been decided falling off in the commercial fisheries there was found to be material inn movement, the yield being nearly three times as great as in 1897 and it would appear that the effects of the fish cultural operations which have been conducted here are beginning to be felt The number of persons en- gagged and capital invested are also proportionataly greater. The yield in 1909 amounted to nearly 2.500,OO0 pounds, valued at over S10O000.