FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1926 339 
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS 
STATISTICS 
Monthly and annual statistics were collected and published regu- 
larly during 1926, as follows: The collection and monthly publication 
of the statistics of the landings of fish by vessels at the ports of Boston 
and Gloucester, Mass., Portland, Me., and Seattle, Wash., with 
publications of annual bulletins summarizing these landings for the 
year; monthly publication of statistics on the cold-storage holdings 
of frozen fish, collected by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 
Department of Agriculture; collection of the statistics of quarterly 
production, consumption, and holdings of oils in the fishery indus- 
tries, for the use of the Bureau of the Census; collection and publi- 
cation of the statistics on the production of canned fishery products 
and by-products of the United States and Alaska for 1926; collection 
of statistics on the shad and alewife fisheries of the Potomac River 
for 1926; collection of statistics of the shad fishery of the Hudson 
River for 1926; and the securing of statistics on the quantities and 
value of sponges handled by the Tarpon Springs Sponge Exchange. 
In the general canvass work of the division the statistics on Mary- 
land and Virginia were collected, compiled, and are published here- 
with. With the completion of the above-mentioned statistics, the 
following geographical sections will have been canvassed for the 
years indicated: 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; 
Great Lakes and Mississippi River and tributaries, 1922. In addition 
to these, yield statistics are available in this report on the Pacific 
Coast States, 1925; Great Lakes, 1925; and the State of Connecticut, 
1926. 
The bureau’s program of securing the much-needed statistics of 
the fisheries through the agency of State collection has made con- 
siderable progress during the last year. The system of collecting 
statistics of the Pacific Coast States, begun in 1923, has been con- 
tinued and bears fruit in the publication in this report of the statis- 
tics for 1924 and 1925. This makes four successive years now avail- 
able. Through the cooperation of the Tariff Commission, which 
compiled State statistics on the fisheries of the Great Lakes in con- 
nection with tariff surveys, it has been possible to present in this 
report the statistics on the fishery yield of the Great Lakes and the 
Lake of the Woods for the years 1913 to 1925. The State of Con- 
necticut also has cooperated in detailing one of its officers to the 
collection of statistics for the past three years, which makes possible 
the inclusion in this report of statistics for that State for the years 
1924 to 1926. It is hoped that more of the States will enter this 
field, so that eventually we may have complete annual statistics of 
our fisheries. 
Statistics of the mackerel fishery.—The collection of special statistics 
on the mackerel fisheries was continued during the year. They 
included the taking of accurate data on the date, locality of capture, 
and the size of each fare of mackerel landed, and the measurements 
of a sample of the mackerel landed. Altogether, data were secured 
on over 1,200 of the 2,800 fares landed, and more than 26,000 mackerel 
were measured. 
