The _anchovy_ is caught on the coast of Europe; most of the product is preserved, or made into the well-known "anchovy sauce." The _beche-de-mere_, or "sea cucumber," is a product of Australasian and Malaysian waters. Almost the whole catch is purchased by the Chinese, and it is exported to all countries having a Chinese population. =Oysters and Lobsters.=--The oyster is among the foremost sea products of the United States in value. The oyster thrives best in moderately warm and sheltered waters. The coves and estuaries along the middle Atlantic coast produce the best in the world. Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound yield the greater part of the output. In the latter waters elaborate methods of propagation are carried out, and the yearly crop is increasing both in quality and quantity. The output of the Chesapeake beds has decreased materially; that of the Long Island Sound beds has increased. Oysters are plentiful along the Pacific coast of the United States and also in European coast-waters, but they are inferior in size and quality. The use of refrigerator-cars and vessels has extended the trade to the extent that fresh oysters are shipped to points 2,000 miles inland; they are also exported to Europe. Baltimore is the chief oyster-market. The consumption of the lobster has been so great that the catch of the New England coast has decreased about one-half in the past fifty years, and the United States is now an importer. Most of the import, amounting to about one million dollars yearly, comes from Canada. The so-called lobsters of the Pacific coast of the United States are not lobsters, but crayfish. =Fish Hatcheries.=--The demand for fish has grown so great in past years that in many countries the waters, especially the lakes and rivers, are restocked. The eggs are hatched and the young fry are fed until they are large enough to take care of themselves. The chief hatchery and laboratory of the United States Fish Commission is at Woods Holl, Mass. As many as 860,000,000 eggs, small fry, and adult fish have been distributed in a single year. The State of New York has also a similar department for restocking its waters. =Sponge.=--This substance is practically the skeleton of a low order of animal, growing at the bottom of the sea. The sponge is cut from the place of attachment, and the gelatinous matter is washed away after putrefaction. The chief sponge-fisheries are in the neighborhood of Florida and the Bahama Islands. =Seal.=--The fur-seal is an amphibian, found only in cold waters. A few pelts are obtained along the Greenland coast, but the chief sealing-grounds of the world have been at the Pribilof Islands, in Bering Sea. The pelts of the young males only are taken. The rookeries of the Pribilof Islands have been so nearly exhausted, that the killing season has been suspended for a term of years. Much illicit seal-catching is still going on, however.