390 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Fishery statistics seem to be particularly valuable aud necessary in the United 

 States, where the regulation of the fisheries is vested in so many legislative bodies; 

 where the conditions vary so much in the different States, oceans, and lakes; where 

 the variations in the abundance of certain products from time to time have been so 

 noticeable; where the artificial culture of fish is so generally carried on and is con- 

 ducted on such a large scale; where international complications over the fisheries 

 have been so important and international relations are so intimate; and where the 

 fisheries occupy such a prominent place among the national industries, on account of 

 the large number of persons who find employment therein and the enormous additions 

 to our food supply resulting therefrom. 



The dependence placed upon fishery statistics by those who are connected directly 

 or indirectly with the industry is attested by the avidity with which statistical reports 

 are received and by the frequent demands for such data made«on the Fish Commission 

 by the general fishing public, State officers, economists, and national legislators. In 

 the consideration of all important international fishery questions in recent years, in 

 the enactment of State and federal laws affecting the fisheries, in gauging the effects 

 of artificial propagation and the necessity for resorting thereto, statistics have plaj^ed 

 a very important part. 



Mention should be made of the very creditable statistical work being done by 

 several of the States through fish commission boards and industrial and statistical 

 bureaus. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, and doubtless other States have 

 made valuable contributions to the literature of fishery statistics, and many of the 

 fish commissions have from time to time presented original statistical information of 

 importance in their annual reports. 



The figures presented in this paper have been obtained by the TJ. S. Commission 

 of Fish and Fisheries, and represent the personal inquiries of its statistical field agents. 

 That office has a permanent force trained for the collection and compilation of the sta- 

 tistics of the ocean, shore, river, and lake fisheries of the country, and is better prepared 

 for this work than i's the Census Bureau, which takes up the subject only at intervals 

 of ten years and with the services of persons who, as a rule, have had no previous 

 experience in the work and whose interest therein ceases with the disbaudment of the 

 bureau. 



At an early period in the history of the IT. S. Fish Commission the desirability of 

 having full and accurate statistical information concerning our fisheries was realized 

 and in one noteworthy instance, at least, was forcibly exemplified: The absence of 

 reliable figures by which to substantiate the American claims in the Halifax Commis- 

 sion has been generally regarded as one of the prime reasons for the adverse decision 

 of that tribunal and the award of $5,500,000 to Great Britain. 



The necessity for having statistical data was fully appreciated by Prof. Baird, the 

 founder of the Fish Commission and its honored head for seventeen years, and various 

 minor inquiries, such as the means at his disposal would permit, were undertaken by 

 him in the years preceding the Tenth Census investigations. From 1880 to 1885 a 

 small sum was annually appropriated by Congress for carrying on statistical work. 

 For the fiscal years 1886, 1887, and 1888, no special allotment was made by Congress, 

 the general appropriation for the Fish Commission being apportioned among the 

 various branches of the work, at the discretion of the Commissioner. Under this 



