Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-16
REVENUE FROM SEA.
Business of Salt Water Fisheries ot
 Middle Atlantic States.
What the Returns of Six Prl ci pnl States Show Regarding the Catch-somc Interesting
 PRrticulars.

; consumed than at any other season few facts concerning the industry of supplying the market with that arti- cle of diet are not without interest. The United States commissioner ot fisheries, George M. Bowers, recently issued a report on the value of the catch for a, year along the coast of sdx states-New York, New Jersey, Penn. sylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Vir. ginia. Though the scope of this sur vey is comparatively limited, it never theless embraces, details which will probably be new to many readers. The 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 paid by the dealers to the fishermen is for
 oysters. No less than 9,129, ,992 went for these bivalves, to say nothing of $1,156,564 for seed oysters. The amount first mentioned is only little over half of the total valuation Cat wh olesale rates) of the sa Ut water fish, cries for year. Clans yielded $1 ,074,- s34, that sum being divided in the pro. portion of about nine to one between hard and soft shell clans. Shad, now. ever, ranked next after oysters, hav- ing cost the markets $1,253, ,197. Mem haden, which are converted into oil and fertilizers, and do not find place on the table, took the fourth place in the procession, being credited with $9s7,22s, while bluefish brought $759,. 152, weakfish $55S, S,2O9, abs (hard and soft) $495,3s slewives (fresh and salt. ed) $262,352, white perch $154,239, eels $152, ,6s6, butterfish S149,9S4 sea bass $126, ,66s, cod $119,59O, founders $111,. 775,s and scallops $11O,537. Of course, the amounts of certain fish fcod, for instance) caught along the Middle Atlantic coast do not correspond with the consumption in the same region because large quantities are brought from Newf England. Halibut, one ot the staples of the fish trade, does not appear in Comnis ssioner Bowers ta bles at all. ~ a
 Inasmuch as the weights, as we'll al the value, of each kind of fish caught are mentioned, it is an easy matter to figure out the average price in every instance. Thus menhaden sold at one-ffthr of a cent pound, alewives at four-fifths, sea bass at ? cents, weak fish at 2H .cod, at B., ra1non mackerel and shad at 4, blueffsh at Az, white bait at z, sheepshead at 8, Spanish mackerel and scallops at 9, triped bass at nearly 10, Holsters, at 12, terra. pin at 40 and shrimps at 50 cents a pound. -..s.
 Locality has something 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 fraction over 3 cents, and the Virginia product only 3, while that of Delaware and Penn. respectively. Again, striped bass from Maryland sold for cents, and that from New York for 13. Even more striking inequalities are afforded by the returns for terrapin. Those pro- duced in Virginia averaged less than 30 cents, Maryland 75, New Jerseys a trifle over 40 cents, and New York's (only $40 pounds), $1. What is prac- tically parallel case is found in the figures for oysters. Virginia produced 42, ,473,6s3 pounds and Maryland s9, ,7es,. 927, but as the former sold for only 6 cents a pound and the latter for ?: :, Maryland received the more money. In the mea ntime New York sold, her 12,- 38o,921 pounds for nearly IA cents pound. @*t tf.