to six days. The bloaters do not have the keeping qualities of the hard herring. In Maine young herring are extensively canned as sardines. In spite of the great increase in the herring fisheries and the enormous quantities annually taken, the abundance of the species has not perceptibly diminished.
The Shad (Alosa sapidissima) is the object of the most extensive fisheries in the United States, where it is the most important food-fish excepting the cod and the salmon. The fisheries are located along the entire Atlantic Coast streams; and the fish has been introduced into the Sacramento River, and has spread along the entire Pacific Coast northward to Alaska. Shad are taken during their entrance into the fresh-water streams for the purpose of spawning, and are captured by seines, gill-nets, and pound-nets in great quantities. The annual yield for recent years has averaged about 50,000,000 in the United States, with a first value of $1,600,000. Host of the shad are consumed fresh, being iced for shipment. A few are brine-salted, and some are smoked. The eggs of shad are to some extent made into caviar, and offer the best substitute for the sturgeon-roe.
The Alewife (Pomolobus pseudoharengus) is the most abundant food-fish in the east coast rivers of the United States, and next to the shad is the most important of the anadromous fishes of the Eastern States. Alewife fisheries are to be found in every Atlantic State. The catch in 1896 was 62,066,622 pounds, with a value of $459,598. They are principally caught in seines and pound-nets during their migrations up the streams for spawning purposes; many are also taken with gill-nets, fykes, and even with dip-nets. A nearly related species, the glut-herring (Pomolobus æstvalis), is of less importance, and more common in the Southern States. Alewives are used fresh for food, as bait for line fisheries, and are extensively brine-salted and smoked. The wholesale value of the smoked product in 1898 was about $100,000, and of the salted about the same.
The Menhaden is the object of an important fishery in the United States. This fish (Brevoortia tyrannus) occurs along the entire east coast of the United States, and is more abundant south, but is of no special value as food except for other fishes. It is canned, and salted to a limited extent, and some are eaten fresh. Their principal value lies in the oil extracted from them, and in their use as fertilizers. They are uncertain in their movements, but in favorable years over fifty vessels may be employed in the catch. The annual product is about 3,000,000 gallons of oil and 1,000,000 tons of scrap (used in the composition of fertilizers), with an aggregate value of about $2,500,000.
The Sardine fisheries are pursued in three principal regions, namely, the Mediterranean coasts, the coast of the Bay of Biscay, and the coast of Maine; but sardines are prepared in other places, such as Brazil and Mexico. The European sardine or pilchard (Clupea pilchardus) is the common form there. In the United States nearly related species are used, also the young of the sea herring, and to some extent young menhaden. This industry is of comparatively recent origin in the United States, dating from 1875. The annual product, since about 1890 has averaged about $2,000,000 for the United States. The European amounts are much greater, France, Spain. Portugal, and Italy being heavy producers. The importations into the United States have aggregated nearly $30,000,000 for the past 40 years, most of which came from France. In the markets sardines appear in the canned form, put up in olive and other kinds of oils. This industry has reached its highest development in Brittany
Another group of important fisheries is that concerned with the several salmonoid fishes. Among these are to be included the salmon, whitefishes, and smelt.
The Salmon are undoubtedly the most important group of fishes entering the rivers of North America, and a considerable number of salmon are taken in Northern Europe and Eastern Asia. The catch of the British Islands in 1889 amounted to about $3,250,000. In North America the most important fisheries are on the Pacific Coast, where the combined annual yield of the United States, Alaska, and British Columbia is about 125,000,000 pounds, with a value of $8,200,000. The most important species is the Chinook or quinnat salmon (see Salmon); the next in importance is the abundant blue-back salmon, followed by the silver salmon, steelhead, etc. They are taken during their ascent up the streams by the usual appliances, together with the unique fishing wheel. Salmon are marketed as fresh, smoked, and canned. The canning of salmon has become one of the great industries of the world. The world's annual output exceeds $10,000,000, over 95 per cent. of which is prepared on the American continent. The total output on the west coast of North America amounted in 1892 to $6,549,000, and in 1895 to $10,081,997. The export trade, at first mainly with South America and Australia, now also includes Great Britain, which consumes annually about 500,000 cases. Smoked salmon are among the choicest of fishery products. In the United States smoking is mainly carried on in the East, but the fish come from the British Provinces. Nearly all the Atlantic salmon are smoked. The output amounts annually to about $750,000, representing about 2,800,000 pounds.
The Whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis) and the ciscos or lake herring (Argyrosomus Artedi) are highly important salmonoids. Species of these two genera are found in the lakes of Northern Asia, Europe, and North America, and all are valued as food. The whitefishes are among the most important fresh-water fishes of the world. The catch of lake herring and whitefish in the United States and Canada for the year 1893 aggregated over 70,000,000 pounds, with a value of about $2,500,000. Of this sum about 47,000,000 pounds were taken in the United States, with a value of nearly $1,000,000, of which 36,000,000 pounds were lake herring. Most of these are taken in gill-nets, but many also in pound-nets, trap-nets, and seines. Whitefish and herring are extensively frozen in the Great Lakes region, and are thus served fresh to the markets. Large quantities were formerly brine-salted, but this industry has almost wholly disappeared since the frozen-fish industry has developed. Whitefish were formerly extensively smoked, but the scarcity of this species has resulted in the substitution of the lake herring, of which there are annually prepared about 2,000,000 pounds in the more important cities along the Great Lakes.
