PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 25. 27 



be regarded as the peculiar property of the States through 

 whose waters they may chance to pass on the way to their 

 breeding grounds, nor yet of the State in which they may 

 breed. They are a national asset, useful as food for inland as 

 well as seacoast communities, and should not be exposed to 

 undue perils when approaching their spawning places. The 

 relatively small size of the States in the Atlantic section 

 results in much unwise though legal destruction of fish in one 

 State when approaching the natural spawning grounds just 

 over the line of the adjacent State, e.g., Rhode Island and 

 Massachusetts. Many flagrant abuses can be adjusted only by 

 national control of migratory fish, with the establishment of 

 suitable laws adapted for meeting special conditions existing in 

 adjacent States. Every person interested in maintaining un- 

 impaired our great national fisheries should actively support 

 such a measure in Congress. 



Deep Sea Fisheries. 



The statistics and information here given were compiled by 

 the Boston Fish Bureau, to whose excellent reports the reader 

 is referred for greater detail regarding the marketing of fish for 

 the years 1912, 1913 and 1914. 



Salt Mackerel. - - In 1912 the catch was mostly small fish, 

 counting from 300 to 325 to a barrel. In the summer of 1913 a 

 body of tinker mackerel extended along the shore, especially on 

 the coast of Maine, where the catch was larger than in a 

 number of years. The market conditions, however, did not 

 encourage their sale. In 1914 the shore catch was mostly 

 small fish, running 300 to 400 per barrel. 



Salt Codfish. --At the beginning of the year 1912 salt codfish 

 prices ruled high, the bank boats returning with light catches. 

 Owing to the good prices fish came from the Pacific coast. 

 During 1913 light catches and high prices prevailed, and again 

 this condition resulted in the obtaining of more fish from other 

 places, viz., Canada, Newfoundland, Iceland and the Pacific 

 coast. In the year 1914, owing to low prices for fresh fish, 

 considerable quantities, especially of small fish, were cured. At 

 Gloucester a cargo of 1,500,000 pounds of codfish was received 

 from Iceland, which, in addition to being the first direct ship- 



