The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-09-15
The FISH BUSINESS
"hat the Seas and the rre., =,
Yielded to Americ, ;. 'sn Watt,

The value of the wato, ''0''
e tahen and sold by United pFe sla'
. .St ara in 1905 was apnpo u States
so6,25o.O0o, and this snm pipH.oAlnately
tnsular , no:soc considerable fisheries y
quantities Of fish taken for ba ,u'aense
sumption and by sportsne r0us CO.. Co
number of persons Who m,La The
n MOOD IN this industry is ahons Nv i've
oeo, and the capital i.vas+os ,'u' 20
So DOT, 0OO. 0''eu exceed
The most valuable of all ~.
cry cry products is the oyster, in the a asa
pul OF which the United States as w
passes all other countries co,a s w.
The crop OF 1905 NAV he n1ad
o2,ooo,ooo bushels. with a 1 ms,
value OF sl5,76o,ooo. Virginia hs @as
Gently assumed the first ran.
oyster producing State, OWNS o as =
20 'he more general practice Of orsV
farming, the States yield heinz y
upward OF 100000 bushels VIII
value to the producers of 81 q5o q,
Inc great high Sea fisheries
cod, haddock. hake. balihut
erei, herring and other well rros
1ood hsnes have been fairly sncc.
1ul as whole, and have v;oIs
about s7,5oo,0oO. The take of mn,
erel was less than in any of tho fn
preceding years; the sudden decros,
IN inc abundance of this fish, ben
ming IN 1886 and continuing tn -.
present time, is one of the most
marka5le cases of the kind
Swordfish were probably pev.
known to be so abundant as in ~
summer and fall of 1904, and l,,,,
numbers were captured for the No.
England markets.
The lobster fishery CONTINUES :.
show a diminishing yield. with q A..
proportionate increase in yalue !,
1919 the catch was less than in n.
previous year, and on the Massach,
sets coast was particularly light tn.
decrease IN the abundance of IN. |
lobster, which began about f;ftee,
years ago and has been due to owe,
fishing and violation of law, can h
arrested only by extensive cultun
operations and rigidly enforced n
Strlctlve measures. At present ,
large part Of the Holsters consumed
In the United States comes from Nom
Scotia.
The whale fishery, which at ON
time was carried on by an immens
fleet of fine sailing vessels and WI
the leading fishing industry Of tn
country, is now conducted chiety
with steamers in the North Pacific
and Arctic oceans, and is an expep
sive, uncertain and often unremuper
ative business. The value of tho
baleen, blubber Oil and sperm oil
taken has been less than 100000
and there is no reason to believe that
the fishery viii. ever show any per
improvement.
The anadromous fishes Of the A.
lantic and Pacific seaboards-tA
salmons, the shad, the alewives, The
striped bass, the perches, etc.-haW
n bn CT in oh
and represent $15,O0O,000 Of income b
the fishermen.
The fisheries of the Great Lakes
have yielded over $2,700,OOO, and b
general are in a satisfactory condi
ton.
The sponge fishery, confined to The
coast Of Florida, has special interest
at this time because of the efforts d
the efforts of the bureau to perfect
method Of cultivation for maintaining
the supply. The yield has continues
to fall below that of previous yean
and owing to the absence in the mar
kets of desirable sizes, the price nM
reached higher point than ever %
fore. The catch on the key GROUNDS
has been very small for several yean
and the spongers attribute the no
to the prevalence of cloudy water
but there is little doubt that 1t IS
large measure due to actual exha@
ton of the grounds.-From the repo7
Of the Commissioner Of Fisheries