S^^ CONSERVATION NOTES 



Our Commercial Fisheries 



A fish is a cold-blooded, aquatic animal with fins, 

 pernnanent gills (used for breathing in water), a backbone, 

 and a skull. A shellfish is an aquatic animal with a shell, 

 but it lacks fins, skull, and vertebrae. 



Some fishing terms. --Fish are "comnnercial" when 

 they are caught for the n^arket; "sport" when they are 

 caught for fun; and "rough" when they appear in abundance 

 where not wanted. For exannple, a carp is a commercial 

 fish in some areas where it is an article of food; a sport 

 fish in some places where the usual sport fish are scarce; 

 and a rough fish in many lakes and streams where it is 

 crowding out trout and bass or other more desirable sport 

 fish. Salnnon, shad, and striped bass are commercial 

 fish to sonne people and sport fish to others. 



Fish can be classified as anadromous, catadromous, 

 salt-water, or fresh-water. Anadromous species - -salmon, 

 alewives, striped bass, shad, steelhead trout- -are hatched 

 in fresh-water lakes or streams but mature in salt water 

 and conne back to fresh water to spawn, and some, like 

 salmon, die after spawning. Catadronnous species - -like 

 the American eel- -live in fresh water and go to sea to 

 spawn. Some fish, like halibut, tuna, and cod, spend their 

 entire lives in the sea; others, like pike, smallmouth 

 bass, and some trout, live only in fresh water. 



Fish are also classified as food fish and industrial fish. 

 Sometinnes industrial fish become human food indirectly. 

 Meal made from industrial fish is used in poultry feed 

 and certain byproducts, or "solubles," are fed to young 

 pigs. 



About 200 species of fish and shellfish are used for 

 food. American fishernnen harvest 5 billion pounds of fish 

 each year, about the same as do Russian and Chinese 

 fishermen, but slightly less than half thecatchof Japanese 

 fishermen. 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Stewart L. Udall, Secretary 



FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



American shc^ 



Blue crob 



