Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1903-09-03
REVENUE FROM SEA.
Business of Salt Water Fisheries OF
Middle Atlantic States.
What the Returns of Six Pri n ci pal
States Show Regarding the
Catch-Some Interesting
Particu In

y
consumed than at any other season
a few facts concerning the industry OF
supplving the market with that artl-
Gle of diet are not without interest
The United States commissioner OF
fisheries, George NJ. Bowers, recently
issued report on the value of the
catch for a. year along the coast of SIX
states-New York. New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland and N1r-
ginia. Though the scope of this sur
vey is comparatively limited, it never
theless embraces details which will
proba bly, be new to many readers Inc
figures are those of 1901, but to great
extent they are probably representa-
tive of other years, reports the New
York Tribune.
The largest amount of money pald
bv the dealers to the fishermen is for
oysters. No less than $9,129,992 went
for these bivalves, to say nothing OF
S1,156, ,564 for seed oysters. l he
amount first mentioned is only little
over half of the total valuation Cat
wholesale rates) of the salt water flsh-
cries, for year. CLAIMS yielded $1,O74,-
534. that sum being divided in the pro-
portion of about rine to one between
1ard and soft shell CLAIMS. Shad, how
ever, ranked next after oysters, nav
ing cost the markets S1.@53,tc7. Men
haden, which are converted into OIL
and fertilizers, and do not Fnd place
on the table, took the fou'' "lace IN
the proces sion, being cr"' with
S9e1.22s. while bluefish hr S15"'-
1872. weaktish h $55S.209, cra n, ihard and
soft) Si95,395. alewives Gco and sa T.
ed 1862 1852, white perch ! lag, eels,
S152,6S6, butterfsh S149.9,t, sea bass
S126.6GS, cod $119,59O. founders SILL
IT'S, and scalEops $110537 Of course,
the amounts of certain fish (cod, for
instance) caught along the MlcHIe
Atlantic coast do not correspond with
the consumption in the same region,
because large quantities are brought
from New England. Halibut, one Of
the staples Of the fish trade, does not
appear in Commissioner Bowers tables
at all.
Inasmuch as the weights, as we'll as
the value, of each, kind of fish caught
are mentioned, it Is an easy matter tC
figure out the average price in every
instance. Thus menhaden sold at
one-tifth Of cent a pound, alewives at
four-fifths sea bass at cents, weak
fish at 2%, cod at 3, common mackerel
and shad at 4, bluefs hat AZ, white
bait at 7, sheepshead at s, Spanish
mackerel and scallops at 8, striped
bass at nearly 10, Holsters at 12, terra
pin at 10 and shrimps at so cents
pound.
Locality has som ething to do with
prices, however, either because of diff
ferences in quality or differences in de
mand. Thus, New York and New Jer-
sey shad brought only a fraction over
cents, nd the Virginia product only
2, while that of Delaware and Penn
sylvania commanded Al and AZ cents,
respectively. Again, striped bass from
Maryland sold for cents, and that
from New York for l3 Even more
striking Inequalities are afforded by
the returns for terra pin. Those pro-
duced in Virginia averaged less than 30
cents, Maryland Is, New Jerseys a
trifle over 40 cents, and New York's
(only $40 pounds, 81. What is prac-
ticaily parealIe case is found in the
| figures for oysters. Virginia produced
! 42.473,6 ,6e3 pound. and Maryland $685.
927, but as the former sold for only
cents pound and the latter for re-,
Maryland received the more money. In
the meantime New York sOld her 12,
,921 pounds for nearly IA cents a
pound