serious consideration to the possible destructiveness of fixed 

 nets, traps, pounds, pots, fish weirs, and other stationary 

 apparatus, he was fully aware of the complexity of the factors 

 which may cause the decline in fish populations. He discusses 

 this difficult problem in a paper entitled "Report on the condition 

 of the sea fisheries of the south coast of New England" and 

 published as the first section of the voluminous First Report 

 of the Connmissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1871. Of the 

 causes which may have contributed to the decrease of summer 

 shore fisheries of the south side of Massachusetts and Rhode 

 Island, a fact which he considered as well established by the 

 testimonies of competent persons, he lists the following: (1) 

 decrease or disappearance of the food of commercial fishes; 

 (2) migration of fishes to other localities; (3) epidemic diseases 

 and "peculiar atmospheric agencies, such as heat, cold, etc. "; 

 (4) destruction by other fishes; (5) man's activities resulting in 

 the pollution of water, in overfishing, and the use of improper 

 apparatus. 



The biologist of today will recognize in this statement 

 Baird's broad philosophical approach to the major problem of 

 fishery biology. The outlined program combined oceanographical 

 and meteorological investigations with the studies of biology, 

 ecology, parasitology, and population dynamics of various fish 

 species. Baird's program of research is as comprehensive and 

 valid today as it was 90 years ago. 



No time was lost in initiating this program. Woods Hole 

 was selected as the base of the sea coast operations during the 

 first summer. In spite of the insignificance of local fisheries, 

 this locality offered a number of advantages which were recognized 

 by Baird. Communication with Boston, New York, and Washington 

 was good and promised to be better with the expected opening of 

 the railroad branch in 1872. Being centrally located in relation 

 to principal fishing grounds of New England and having good dock 

 facilities and water of sufficient depth for sea going vessels. Woods 

 Hole was a suitable base for visiting the offshore grounds. Further- 

 more, it was believed that the alleged decrease in food fishes was 

 most clearly manifested in the region around Vineyard Sound. The 

 small yacht Mazeppa of the New Bedford Custom House and the 

 revenue- cutter Moccasin attached to the custom-house at Newport, 

 R.I. , were placed at the disposal of Baird; and the Light-House 

 Board granted permission to occupy some vacant buildings and the 

 wharf at the buoy- station on the west bank of Little Harbor (fig. 5). 

 The Secretary of the Navy came to Baird's assistance by placing 

 at his command a small steam launch which belonged to the Boston 

 Navy Yard and by giving many condemned powder tanks which could 

 be used for the preservation of specimens. Nets, dredges, tanks, 

 and other gear were provided by the Smithsonian Institution. 

 Cooperation of the various governmental agencies was authorized 



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