XIV REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 
tries were collected quarterly and furnished to the Bureau of the 
Census for publication as in previous years. The annual canvasses 
of the shad fisheries of the Potomac and Hudson Rivers were made 
as usual. 
The States of Maryland and Virginia were canvassed for general 
statistics on the personnel, investment, and yield of the fisheries and 
fishery industries for the year 1925, and, with their publication, sta- 
tistics of this nature are available on the various geographical sec- 
tions, as follows: New England States, 1924; New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Delaware, 1921; Maryland and Virginia, 1925; 
South Atlantic and Gulf States, 1923; Pacific Coast States, 1922; and 
the Mississippi River and Great Lakes, 1922. 
As the result of State activities, there are available annual sta- 
tistics on the production of the Pacific Coast States for the years 
1922 to 1925, inclusive, and of the Great Lakes for the years 1913 to 
1925, inclusive. Statistics on persons, investment, and yield of the 
fisheries of Connecticut also are available for the years 1924, 1925, 
and 1926. In these cases original collections were made by the States, 
and the compilations of the various sections were made by the Bureau 
of Fisheries. It is to be hoped that more States will undertake work 
of this nature, for it is on properly collected statistics that we must 
depend for the facts necessary for the proper conservation of our 
commercial fisheries. The States, with their direct jurisdiction over 
the fisheries, are the logical agencies for the collection of such 
statistics. 
MACKEREL STATISTICS 
The collection of special statistical data on the mackerel fishery 
was continued during the past year. A preliminary analysis of these 
statistical and biological data indicates that the causes of fluctuations 
in the mackerel fisheries are due primarily to variations in the success 
of reproduction from year to year. Thus the unusually large runs of 
mackerel in 1925, 1926, and the early season of 1927 have been due to 
the unusually large numbers of mackerel spawned and hatched in 
one year, provisionally determined to be that of 1923. Very few 
mackerel of other year groups were found in the catch, indicating 
that the other spawning seasons have been much less successful than 
that of 1923. 
CANNED FISHERY PRODUCTS AND BY-PRODUCTS 
The canned fishery products and by-products of the United States 
and Alaska amounted to $98,326,350 in value in 1926. The output 
of canned fishery products was valued at $86,193,240, and that of by- 
products was valued at $12,133,110. The total is the largest in 
recent years, exceeding 1925 by 3 per cent and 1921 by 79 per cent. 
The increase is due chiefly to the larger pack of canned salmon in 
Alaska. Among the canned products, salmon, as usual, was the most 
important item, contributing 65 per cent of the total value; sardines 
were next, with 17 per cent; the tuna followed, with 6 per cent; and. 
oysters, shrimp, clams, and miscellaneous products contributed the 
remaining 12 per cent. 
