630 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
for the southerners to consume The mullet fishery represents a 
highly important field for scientific investigation. 
Doctor Gaursorr. I wish to take this opportunity to point out 
briefly the extreme scientific interest in the study of the Gulf of 
Mexico. What I am going to mention may not be a job for the 
Bureau of Fisheries directly, because the relatively small importance 
of the fisheries there wouldn’t justify prolonged scientific investiga- 
tions, but I wish to call attention to the interesting oceanography in 
the Gulf of Mexico and its unexplored area. ‘There is virtually 
nothing written on the Gulf of Mexico, except by Agassiz in his 
report of the Blake expedition. I searched the literature and couldn’t 
find anything on plankton organisms, bottom forms, etc. At present, 
probably all shore fisheries are confined to the inshore products 
because of the currents outside of the lagoons, which make a bound- 
ary between the inshore waters and the Gulf itself. Because of the 
velocity of the currents the fishing is rather difficult. This should 
attract the attention of the oceanographer; the origin of the Gulf 
Stream lies in the Gulf of Mexico. 
Mr. Prarson. In my talk I merely wanted to point out how in- 
effectual any scientific work would be in a State like Texas if public 
opinion is not converted to believe in real conservation. This is 1il- 
‘Justrated by the results of work we did in North Carolina, where 
we recommended a closed season. The commission first voted to 
have a two months’ closed season put in operation at once. Then 
the fishermen got together, the commission got scared, and there were 
no regulations; so the work practically has gone to waste. 
Mr. Tuomerson. In connection with the fact that conservation has 
run wild in Texas, it might be interesting to say something about the 
fisheries of California and the scientific work there. I believe Mr. 
Scofield will agree that the scientific work upon the fisheries has as 
greatly restrained unwise conservation as it has helped wise conserva- 
tion. 
Mr. Rapcuirre. What is the length of the coast line of Texas, 
roughly ? 
Mr. Pearson. About 400 miles. The catch of food fishes is about 
5,000,000 pounds. 
Mr. Rapcutrre. They must have a very poor fish supply out there, 
or else their commercial operations are having a very serious effect 
upon the supply that is there. 
Mr. Hiecrns. The question of conservation in Texas is a little 
more serious than in some of the other States, because they have no 
offshore fishery. I wouldn’t consider the snapper a Texas fish, al- 
though they do land some snappers. They depend upon three species 
almost entirely. No fishery can develop greatly if dependent upon 
such a small number of species; and these are shore fish, easily 
taken, and therefore subject more readily to depletion than are the 
pelagic species. I think the situation in Texas is not as hopeless as 
Mr. Pearson suggested, however. So far as the illustration that Mr. 
Pearson gave goes, the investigation in North Carolina showed a 
tremendous loss of immature fish. It is true that the fishery com- 
mission did not feel that they had public sentiment behind them so 
strongly that they could actually force a closed season. Yet the 
sentiment of the board was in favor of restriction, and they actually 
did pass some restriction on the fishing season. They have now about 
