heport 



ON THE 



PRINCIPAL FISHEPxlES OF THE AMERICAN SEAS: 



BY LORENZO SABINE. 



Custom-house, Boston, 

 Collector's Office, December 10, 1852. 



Sir : I transmit herewith a report on the fisheries, by Lorenzo 

 Sabine, esq., which he has prepared for the department. 

 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



P. GREELY, Jr., 



Collector. 

 Hon. Thomas Corwin, 



Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. 



Framingham, December 6, 1852. 



Sir : I submit herewith the report which I have prepared, in ac- 

 cordance with your instructions of the 2d of February last. 



More than twenty years have elapsed since I formed the design of 

 writing a work on the American fisheries, and commenced collecting 

 materials for the purpose. My intention embraced the whale fishery 

 of our flng in distant seas ; the fisheries of our own coasts, lakes, and 

 rivers, as well as those which we prosecute within British jurisdiction, 

 under treaty stipulations ; and the fisheries of the Indian tribes within 

 the limits of the United States. That a part of my plan has now 

 been executed, is owing entirely to the interest and zeal which you 

 have manifested in the undertaking. 



Our first interview upon the subject was caused by a communication 

 to you from the Treasury Department, in which the Secretary con- 

 veyed a request that a report of limited size should be furnished from 

 your own office. During our conversation, you expressed a desire to 

 look over my collection of documents and state-papers, and they were 

 accordingly deposited with you for examination. On returning them 

 to me, you were pleased to give a favorable opinion of their value, and 

 to say that you would at once suggest and recommend to Mr. Corwin 

 the expediency of employing me to write a paper somewhat more 

 elaborate than he had contemplated. 



Subsequendy, you announced to me that the Secretar}^ promptly 

 adopted your views, and submitted the whole matter to your discretion. 



