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V>. _BUREAU OF FISHERIES,

Department of Commerce and Labor.

U. S. FISHERIES SCHOONER ‘‘GRAMPUS.”’

Printed for distribution at the Ter-Centennial
Exposition, near Norfolk, Va., 1907, by
the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.

Origin and Functions.

HE Bureau of Fisheries may be said to date from 1871,
in which year Congress passed a joint resolution au-
thorizing the President to appoint a Commissioner of Fish
and Fisheries, whose duty it should be to conduct investi-
gations relative to the diminution of the supply of food
fishes and to make recommendations to Congress regarding
this subject. From this beginning the work increased
yearly in extent and scope; and under the name of Com-
mission of Fish and Fisheries the Bureau had an inde-
pendent existence until June 30, 1903, when it became a part
of the Department of Commerce and Labor, under the title
Bureau of Fisheries.

The Bureau of Fisheries is peculiarly American in its con-
ception, and its prototype exists in few other COMMEnMeSe nL
labors directly for the preservation and increase of useful
water animals, and, in conjunction with many of the states,
has placed certain branches of the fisheries on a permanent
basis. It has achieved a wide reputation for originality of
method and magnitude of operations, and has given the
United States first place in all matters relating to the en-
richment of the aquatic food supply by artificial means.
The Bureau has participated in all the great expositions at
home and many of those abroad, and has received numerous
awards for the originality and excellence of its work.

The operations of the Bureau are now conducted on three
general lines: (1) The propagation and distribution of food
fishes: (2) the scientific investigation of the seas, rivers, and
lakes and their inhabitants; (3) the study of the economic
fisheries and the collection of statistics thereof.

“WA “ATTIASHLAM N VIS IWHYNLINO HSls

5

Propagation and Distribution of Food Fishes.

HE work of increasing the supply of food and game |
fishes by artificial means has become of more impor-
tance each year, and there are now maintained by the gov-
ernment 33 specially constructed hatcheries and 16 sub-
hatcheries, located in 26 states and territories. Of the main
hatcheries, 3 are on the New England coast, 8 are on the
rivers of the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, 4 are on the
Great Lakes, and 18 are on the interior fresh waters.

About 50 species are regularly propagated and distributed
by the Bureau, and others are from time to time taken up
as circumstances require or permit. Among the most im-
portant species handled are the cod, pollock, flounder, and
lobster among marine forms; the shad, salmon, striped bass,
white perch, yellow perch, Atlantic salmon, chinook salmon,
and blue back salmon on the coast rivers; the whitefish, lake
herring, lake trout, and pike perch on the Great Lakes; and
the brook trout, rainbow trout, black-spotted trout, land-
locked salmon, grayling, black bass, rock bass, crappy, and
catfish in the interior waters.

One of the most interesting and important lines of work |
is the introduction of foreign fishes into American waters
and the transplanting of native fishes from one section of
the country to another. A most noteworthy example of
the successful transfer of native fishes to new waters was the
acclimatization of the shad and the striped bass on the Pa-
cific coast between 30 and 35 years ago; the aggregate cost
of this experiment was less than $5,000, while the catch of
these two fishes on the west coast to the end of 1906 ex-
ceeded 30,000,000 pounds, valued at more than $1,000,000.
Experiments are now in progress having for their object the
colonizing of the Atlantic lobster on the Pacific coast and
the establishment of the Pacific salmons in the waters of
the Middle and New England States.

Plants of fish are made gratis in suitable public or private
waters, on the receipt of applications endorsed by a United
States Senator or Representative or by a state fish commis-

6

sioner. ‘he Bureau also transfers to the state hatcheries
large numbers of fish eggs in various stages of incubation.
In the transportation of fish for long distances, six specially

HATCHERY AND LABORATORY, WOOD’S HOLE, MASS.

constructed railway cars are employed. (See model in ex-
hibit.) During the fiscal year 1906 the distribution of fish
and eggs by the Bureau was as follows:

Fingerlings,

Species. Eggs. Fry. yearlings, Total.
and adults.
Sha Gisceis a) aevetoreai< tere 495,000 AsO. GEO | asacc 37,999,300
Wititetishie ere acre 73,099,000 ABV OOVASO) |laaandsiavob.acc 336,499,800
Chinook salmon.... | 115,628,645 | 20,789,928 122,980 136,541,553
Blueback salmon.... 122,500 | 9,923 680 9.500 10,055,680
Other salmon....... 445,180 | 10,352,529 178,034 10,976,043
Brookitrouteea sec g60, 000 | 5,333,009 3,678,879 9,972,485
Black-spotted trout. . 810,000 | 6,988,918 I, 100,336 8,899,254
Wakextrovts wan rock 25,090, 000 | 29,084,540 73,200 54,247,740
Othertroutess.e eee. 514,400 | 2,675,084 1,655,315 4,844,799
Pike perch... ..: .. | 136,100,000 PRON O(00) || oe coudodsoec 368,205,000
Mello wapenchivrserires ei tear 3 161,943,000 3,065 161,946,065
Whites perchin ance 5,400, 00¢ [7 GKGGOLOOO! yer eteretekel ee 182,090,900
Basses and sun-fishes|............ 245,450 696,042 941,492
COd ee Se acters owes e.s aia Si morsta 15 Qs492,OCONll at) cine 159,492,000
Rilatshs ie. a vertacrrnceh cies See MEF OVIGHKOCS) lnccdgacaccceer 285,049,000
WObsSter a ten caste ners oto | sees IMTS T7/{OOO log on a ex 117,787,000
All other fish’ ><... . 38,892,000 7,316,500 78,895 46,287,395

Motalye eer ..-| 397,556,725 1,526,681 ,638

7,596,246 | 1,931,834, 609

Inquiry Respecting Food Fishes and the Fishing Grounds.

O this division of the service belong the investigations

and researches addressed to the physical and chem-

ical characters of the seas and fresh waters in their relation
to aquatic life; the life histories, habits, food, abundance,
distribution, enemies, and diseases of fishes and other eco-
nomic animals, as well as the minor forms of life which,
while not directly important, are indirectly valuable to man

Puel

MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, BEAUFORT, N. C.

because they furnish food for the higher animals. This
branch also makes inquiries regarding the causes of the de-
crease of food fishes, points out the remedies therefor,
studies particular species and regions in the interest of fish
culture, conducts the necessary biological investigations
antecedent to the establishment of hatching stations, ex-
plores the fishing grounds of the coasts and interior, and in
numerous other ways promotes the commercial fisheries
and artificial propagation.

8

The Bureau maintains two well-equipped seaside labo-
ratories—at Woods Hole, Mass., and Beaufort, N. C.—
where scientific and economic questions connected with the
ocean are studied by large numbers of experienced investi-
gators from the leading institutions of learning.

Among the biological problems having an important prac-
tical bearing which have been recently under consideration
are the possibility of fattening oysters by increasing arti-
ficially the abundance of the minute plants (diatoms) on
which the oysters feed; the rearing of the lobster; the nat-
ural history of the Pacific salmons; the feasibility of grow-
ing sponges from cuttings; the bacterial and other diseases
of cultivated and wild fishes; the infection of oysters by
contaminated water, and the possibility of raising the dia-
mond-back terrapin and the green turtle from the egg on a
commercial scale.

One of the most valuable adjuncts of the scientific
work is the steamer Albatross, a twin-screw iron ves-
sel of over 1,000 tons displacement, which was especially
constructed and equipped for exploration of the seas, and
is the best-known and most efficient vessel of her class. She
has conducted investigations in all parts of the world; sur-
veyed the fishing grounds of our east and west coasts,
Alaska, Hawaii, etc.; made over 10,000 deep-sea soundings,
more than 4,000 dredgings, and brought up from the bottom
of the sea hundreds of tons of fishes and other creatures
never before seen by man. ‘The greatest depth at which the
Albatross found life was 4,173 fathoms; the deepest sound-
ing made was 4,813 fathoms. The greatest ocean depth
known is 5,269 fathoms (6 miles), ascertained by the U. S.S.
Nero while using apparatus belonging to the Albatross in
the Pacific Ocean near the island of Guam.

Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries.

Ce the establishment of the Bureau, the collection of

fishery statistics has been a part of its work, as it is
only by means of specially collected data that the effects of
fish culture, the necessity for restrictive measures, the in-
fluence of legislation, and the trend of different branches
of the industry can be determined. In this division there
is a small corps of trained agents who visit all fishing
communities to obtain information regarding the number
of persons engaged, the quantity and value of the prop-
erty used, and the amount and value of the catch. his
division also makes a study of the apparatus and methods
employed in fishing, the manner of utilizing and preparing
the catch, the financial relations of the fishermen, the whole-
sale fish trade of the larger cities, and various other matters
connected with the commercial fisheries; and, by means of
correspondence and printed reports, disseminates among
the fishing population useful information concerning the
utilization of new or waste products, the best ways of pre-
paring the catch, the most approved methods of other coun-
tries, the opportunities for extending markets, etc.

The latest canvasses show that the high-sea, coastwise,
and interior fisheries of the United States give employment
to more than 219,500 persons; involve an investment of over
$88,000,000, and yield annually a product weighing more
than 2,000,000,000 pounds, valued at nearly $57,000,000. The
extent of the industry on each coast and in the interior
waters is as follows:

Io

Geographical sec-

tions.

Atlantic Coast..
Pacific Coast.

Great Lakes and in-

terior waters

Products.
Persons Capital
employed. invested.
Pounds. Value.

163,834 $54,380,564 1,566,075,551 | $37,704,089

ee O15 2m 2256725027, 276,504,418 14,011,090

25,201 | I1,296,012 185,187,239 5,012,598

-. | 219,559 $88,349,503 | 2,027,767,208 | $56,727,777

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U. S. FISHERIES STEAMER “ALBATROSS.”

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

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