X REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



Tennessee were pushed during the year and carried well on toward 

 completion. At the close of the year construction at Lake Mills, Wis., 

 and in the Madison Valle}^, Mont., was just being started, and a site 

 had been acquired in Idaho for a large trout hatchery. In addition, 

 a hatchery in southwestern Oregon was under construction. Nego- 

 tiations for the purchase of a location at Cortland, N. Y., were not 

 fully completed at the close of the year, as was the case at the Mill 

 Creek (Calif.) station now operated under a lease. Preliminary de- 

 velopment of a bass hatchery on a newly acquired site in Alabama 

 was also started. Sites in Indiana and Pennsylvania have been ac- 

 quired, but as no funds were appropriated for the continuation of 

 the construction program in 1933, no further developments will be 

 possible. A location for a substation in Texas was selected and will 

 be acquired, although this project likewise lacks appropriations for 

 construction. As an auxiliary to the propagation of salmon in the 

 Puget Sound region, there is being constructed a game-fish hatchery 

 adjoining Mount Rainier National Park to be devoted exclusively to 

 the stocking of the park and surrounding waters. 



bureau's new HEADQUARTERS 



After more than 50 years of occupancy of the old Armory Building 

 at Sixth and B Streets SW., on January 1, 1932, the bureau moved 

 into its quarters in the new Commerce Building between Fourteenth 

 and Fifteenth Streets, south of Pennsjdvania Avenue. Its new 

 quarters include limited laboratory facilities for research in various 

 fields of fisheries, biology, and technology, and an attractive aquarium 

 in the basement of 47 tanks and 3 floor pools with a capacity several 

 times that afforded in its former quarters. 



ALASKA FISHERIES SERVICE 

 ADMINISTRATION OF FISHERY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 



An effective policy for the conservation of the fisheries of Alaska 

 has been continued under the White law of June 6, 1924, which gives 

 the Secretary of Commerce plenary power to regulate commercial 

 fishing. Close attention was given to the study of the salmon for 

 the purpose of regulating fishery operations to assure an ample 

 escapement of brood fish for maintaining the runs without impair- 

 ment. The Commissioner of Fisheries was in Alaska for several 

 weeks during the active fishing season giving personal attention to 

 this matter. 



A generally normal run of salmon occurred in Alaska in 1931, but 

 there was marked voluntary curtailment of fishery operations because 

 of economic conditions. 



Revised regulations for the protection of the fisheries of Alaska 

 were approved by the Secretary of Commerce on December 17, 1931, 

 and became effective January 1, 1932. The generally satisfactory 

 condition of the fisheries made unnecessary any drastic modification 

 of the regulations. 



In protecting and conserving the Alaska fisheries, an effective 

 patrol of the fishing grounds to prevent violations of the regulations 

 was maintained. In addition to 12 statutory employees and the 53 



