BUREAU OF FISHERIES Vv 
Although most of the fish of the Mexican coast are caught outside 
the 3-mile limit, it is necessary for the boats to enter Mexican terri- 
torial waters for shelter and to take sardines and other small varie- 
ties used in the live-bait operations. Also, the safest and most direct 
course for home brings the boats within 3 miles of the shore and 
under Mexico’s jurisdiction. Therefore it is necessary for American 
fishermen to clear for Mexico rather than for the “high seas,” to 
take out Mexican fishing permits, and pay the export fees on dutiable 
fish in observance of that country’s regulations. 
When the canneries and fresh-fish markets of the United States 
first began to draw upon the marine life off the coasts of Mexico, 
that country considered this resource of relatively little importance. 
Difficulties arose in the administration of fishery affairs, unfortunate 
practices crept in, and general dissatisfaction with existing condi- 
tions increased. When these matters were brought to the attention 
of the central Government, interest was aroused in the fisheries. 
More stringent regulations were put into effect, and higher rates of 
duty were imposed. It was this unsettled state of affairs that led 
Mexico to propose the fisheries section to the convention under 
discussion. 
The abrogation of the convention came before the constructive 
program planned could accomplish any real benefits. There is 
urgent need for the adoption of a program of conservation that will 
insure the perpetuation of this important resource. This must be 
preceded by scientific studies to disclose the condition and trend of 
each fishery as a basis for the adoption of regulatory measures. 
There is also need for an impartial agency to prevent dissension and 
to promote harmonious working agreements between the two coun- 
tries in the handling of fishery matters.” 
NORTH AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON FISHERY INVESTIGATION 
This committee, composed of delegates from Canada, Newfound- 
land, and the United States, held two meetings during the year—one 
at St. Johns, Newfoundland, on July 9, 1926, and the other at Wash- 
ington, D. C., on April 28, 1927. 
The fisheries statistics of the various countries that fish the banks 
of the northwestern Atlantic are being correlated so as to make it 
possible to follow the entire fishery of the banks of that region. A 
summary of the total annual catches of cod of the region taken by 
Newfoundland, France, Portugal, Canada, and the United States 
during the past 40 years or more shows that the cod fishery has fur- 
nished about 1,000,000,000 pounds of fish annually, ranging from 
850,000,000 to 1,350,000,000 pounds. Although there have been con- 
siderable fluctuations, these have been upward as much as downward, 
so that there is no evidence of any definite decline in the fishery or 
of any depletion of the stock. 
Studies of the cod off the coast of the United States reveal that 
fish that live off Cape Cod in the summer migrate to the New Jersey 
coast during the winter and return in the spring. Fish tagged at 
Mount Desert, Me., have been found to move chiefly eastward to both 
coasts of Nova Scotia, only an occasional one moving westward and 
reaching as far as Cape Cod. 
2 Based on a report by Miss Geraldine Conner, American secretary. 
