Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/277

 UNITED STATES.] The French fisheries at Newfoundland arc carried on both on the banks and near the island, the craft employed being of various sizes, ranging from vessels averaging about 170 tons down to open boats. The following table 1 gives the number of craft of all kinds and the total number of men in each year from 18G7 to 1874 : United States fisheries. Year. Vessels, &C. Men. Year Vessels, &C. Me 1867 804 7178 1871 665 5295 1868 774 6552 1872 865 5620 1809 806 6452 1873 899 6036 1870 833 6397 i 1874 847 5621 Of the numbers of fishing craft here given about 70 per cent, are boats. The produce of the French Newfoundland fishery in 1872 was said to be 10 million francs. UNITED STATES FISHERIES. These may be divided into warm-water and cold-water fisheries, the latter being for the most part carried on in British American waters. The cod fishery, formerly prosecuted off the coast of New England, in the cold water north of Cape Cod, is said to have seriously decreased, and it is believed by Professor Baird, the commissioner of fish and fisheries, that the failure is largely due to the diminution of alewives and other bait- fishes, caused by the numerous dams and obstructions in the rivers in which these fishes were accustomed to spawn. The young fish formerly produced in such myriads are now aid to be comparatively few, and the cod and allied fishes consequently have less food to attract them to the old haunts. As there is no reason to suppose that cod, as a species, are diminishing in numbers, the conclusion obviously in that they are seeking other feeding grounds. The warm- water fisheries include the pursuit of a variety of fishes, but the &quot; scup,&quot; a kind of bream, and the &quot;blue-fish,&quot; both migratory species, are those whose capture is thought of most value. Although almost all the shore fisheries are said to be decreasing, 2 Professor Baird, in his elaborate reports to the United States Government, does not seem to be quite clear as to an effectual remedy. The pounds and weirs are said to be very destructive to spawning fish, but they supply a large quantity of fish to the markets. The scourge of the American coast appears to be the blue-fish, &quot; destroying ten times as many fish as they really need for food, and leaving in their track the surface of the water covered with the blood and fragments of the mangled fish.&quot; 3 Professor Baird estimates that in 1871 there were 100 millions of these fish on part of the American coast, and that each one destroyed twenty fish per day ; and as the blue-fish season lasts from 120 to 150 days, some idea may be formed of the extent of the mischief caused by them. Fortunately the blue-fish is in great request as an article of food, and about a million and a quarter were captured in 1871, or, as estimated, one in a hundred of those on the coast. To the blue-fish Professor Baird assigns the very first position among the injurious influences that have affected the supply of fishes on the coast. The agency of man he places next, the pounds and weirs along-shore catching spawning fishes, and the dams and other obstruc tions in the rivers preventing certain species from ascending 1 Report on Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries, 1875, by Captain Erskine, R. N. 2 Professor Baird says at page 19 of Part i. of his Report&quot; It is by no means to be inferred from our remarks as to the scarcity of fish that fewer are actually caught now than formerly at any time, the contrary, perhaps, being the case, since by means of the improved methods of capture, in the way of pounds and nets, an immense supply is taken out at certain seasons of the year, so as frequently to glut the markets. The scarcity is better shown by the great difficulty ex perienced by line fishermen in securing a proper supply throughout the year, on grounds where they were formerly able to catch all they needed for their own use and for sale.&quot; 3 Baird. Report for 1871 and 1872, part i. p. 23. 267 to their proper spawning grounds. He proposed to limit the working of the pounds and weirs to a certain number of days in each week, and to do away as much as possible with the river obstructions. The blue-fish is beyond control. The estimated value of the United States sea fisheries in 1876 was Warm-water fisheries $3, 274, 1 38 Cold-water ,, 9,766,688 $13,030,821 The comparative value of the cold-water fisheries of the United States and of British North America for the years 1870-G is shown in the following table 4 the greater portion of the value in the United States return being from fish caught in British American waters : Year. United States. British North America. 1870 $5,313,967 $14,260,298 1871 11,482,410 16,086,081 1872 9,526,647 16,524,644 1873 8,348,185 18,793,953 1874 9,522,553 20,193,596 1875 10,747,579 18,193,214 1876 9,756,683 18,707,328 The oyster fisheries of the United States are on a very America large scale, and the coast line generally appears to abound oyster with suitable localities for the production of these favourite fisheries mollusks. The oysters are all of a more or less elongated form, and of largs size, sometimes growing to a length of 12 or 15 inches. They are obviously more suitable for cooking than for consumption in a natural state ; and it is therefore not surprising that they are unable to competc with the favourite &quot; native &quot; in the English market. The trade in oysters in the principal cities of the United States in 1859 was estimated as follows : r&amp;gt; Htisliels. Virginia (State) 1,050,000 Baltimore 3,500,000 Philadelphia 2,500,000 New York 6,950,000 Fair Haven 2,000,000 Other cities 4,000,000 fisheries Total 20,000,000 NORWEGIAN AND SWEDISH FISHERIES. The important Norwe- fishery of Norway is that for cod, and the special seat of gia anc it is at the Lofoden Islands. In 1876 the fishery was Swedish very successful, more than 22 millions of fish having been taken, a larger catch than in any previous year since 18GO, excepting 1875, Of this number about 16 millions of fish were salted, and most of the remainder dried. The average price on the spot was .1, Gs. 8d. per 100. Tho Finmark cod fishery in the same year fell off very much, as will be seen by the following returns for the years 1872-6 : 1872 11,500,000 cod. 1873 16,000,000, 1874 17,500,000 ,, 1875 19,750,000 ,, 1876 3,500,000 ,, The catch of Norway mackerel in 1876 was 1,800,000 fish, and the estimated produce of the herring fishery in that year was 400,000 barrels ; but the spring or winter herring disappeared about 1874, and the market has since been supplied with the large northern herring. A remark able instance of the capricious movements of the herring 4 Report of Fishery Commission, Halifax, part ii. p. 63. B Report by Lieutenant P. de Broca to the French Government, 1862, given in Report by Prof. Baird, pt. iii. p. 282 (1876). 6 Consular Reports, part i., 1877.