148 APPENDIX TO THE REPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 



1872. — This year the summer station was at Eastport, Me., particular 

 attention being j^aid. to the herring fisheries. The survey of the Great 

 Lalses was continued. Dredging, under the direction of Professor Pack- 

 ard, was begun on the off-shore banks. At the instance of the American 

 Fish Cultural Association, Congress requested the Commissioner to 

 take charge of the work of multiplying vahiable food fishes throughout 

 the country. Work was begun on the shad, salmon, and whitefish, and. 

 the eggs of the European salmon were imported. 



1873. — The summer headquarters were fixed at Portland, Me. The 

 opportunities for research were greatly increased by the aid of the Sec- 

 retary of the Navy, who granted the use of an eighty-ton steamer. 



Exj)lorations in the outer waters between Mount Desert and Cape 

 Cod were carried on in the United States Coast Survey steamer Bache. 

 Operations in fish culture were carried on upon an extensive scale. 



1874-1875. — In 1874 the zoological work centered at Noank, Conn. 

 The attempt was made to introduce shad into Europe. In 1875 the 

 station was for a second time at Wood's HoU, where a permanent sea- 

 side laboratory, with aquaria, was now established. The number of 

 investigations this year was about twenty. The increase in the propa- 

 gation work was proportionately much larger. 



1876. — This year the Commissioner was unable to take the field for 

 fishery investigations, having been instructed to exhibit, in connection 

 with the Philadelphia International Exhibition, the methods of fish 

 culture and the American fisheries. Much, however, was accomplished 

 by single investigators in various localities. The propagation work 

 continued. This year the first carp were introduced from Germany. 



1877. — The field of investigation was resumed at Salem, Mass., and 

 later at Halifax, Xova Scotia. A large steamer of 300 tons made deep- 

 sea research possible. The Commissioner and his staff served as experts 

 before the Halifax Fishery Commission. The propagating work was 

 on the increase, and the government carp ponds were established in 

 Washington. 



1878-1879. — In 1878 the summer station was at Gloucester, Mass. ; in 

 1879 at Provincetown. These centers of the fishing interests were se- 

 lected that more attention might be devoted to studying the history, 

 statistics and methods of the sea fisheries ; a plan for the systematic 

 investigation which seems yearly more necessary in view of the dissen- 

 sions between the governments of the United States and Great Britain. 

 In 1879 a combination was formed with the Superintendent of the Tenth 

 Census, by which the Commissioner was enabled to carry more rapidly 

 forward this branch of the work. Specialists were dispatched to all parts 

 of the country to study the biological, statistical, and j)ractical aspects of 

 the fisheries. In 1878 the breeding of cod and haddock was accom- 



