Department of Commerce, 



Bureau of Fisheries, 



Washington, July i, 1932. 

 The honorable the Secretary of Commerce. 



Dear Mr, Secretary: I have the honor to submit the following 

 resume of the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal 

 year ended June 30, 1932, 



The fishing industry in all its branches has suffered severely in 

 common with other producers of foodstuffs. The extensive decline 

 in prices, especially of those products with which fish normally 

 comj^ete in the retail markets, has faced the industry with actual 

 disaster. The complexity of the system of fish distribution, seasonal 

 character of supply, remoteness of centers of production from popu- 

 lation centers, and the limitation of the consumption of fish combine 

 to make it most difficult for fishery operators to compete at present 

 price levels. The temporary scarcity of some staples has tended 

 to keep up the cost of production and added to the difficulties of the 

 producers of such products. On the other hand, advances in quick 

 freezing, the packaging of fresh and frozen fish, and the value of 

 marine products in the diet in combating faulty nutrition are tend- 

 ing to popularize fishery products with the consuming public. With 

 the development of improvements in fish manufacture and merchan- 

 dising, especially with respect to adequate display and refrigerating 

 equipment suitable for handling quick-frozen foods satisfactorily 

 and their more general installation in retail stores, and the education 

 of the public to a realization that frozen foods can be fully as sound, 

 palatable, and nutritious as the fresh products, we may expect this 

 branch of the fishery trade to become more stabilized. 



Our industrialization has created conditions making it more diffi- 

 cult to keep our waters adequately stocked with aquatic life. To 

 overcome these handicaps the number of Federal, State, and private 

 fish-cultural units has been increased. There are 87 Federal stations 

 and substations in 36 States and the Territory of Alaska and about 

 390 State hatcheries. In addition, there are 130 private trout hatch- 

 eries, about 45 goldfish farmers, and several hundred clubs raising 

 fish for stocking purposes. 



The output of fish and eggs by the bureau's propagation units 

 exceeded 7,000,000,000, representing a slight decrease as compared 

 with the previous year. The take of fur-seal skins on the Pribilof 

 Islands in 1932 again exceeded 49,000, being slightly less than in 

 1931. 



Commercial fishing is prosecuted on the high seas, along our entire 

 coast line including Alaska, on the Great Lakes, and in interior 

 waters. These fisheries during the calendar year 1930 furnished em- 

 ployment to about 120,000 fishermen and 84^^000 persons engaged in 

 transporting, manufacturing, and the wholesale trade, making a total 



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