REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Department of Commerce and Labor, 



Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Washington, December 2, 1912. 

 Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a report giving an out- 

 line review of the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1912. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 

 GENERAL CONDITION OF THE INDUSTRY. 



The commercial fisheries of the United States during the two 

 calendar years involved m the fiscal year covered by this report were 

 in a generally flourishmg condition, and the outlook on the whole is 

 favorable. Although no census of the fishing industry of the United 

 States has been taken for some years, it is possible to make a close 

 estimate based on general information and on special statistical 

 canvasses that have been undertaken by the Bureau. During the 

 calendar year 1911 the fisheries of the country, including Alaska, 

 but excluding insular possessions, may be regarded as having had 

 the following approximate extent: Persons engaged, 225,000; vessels 

 employed, 7.500, of 217,000 tons; total capital invested, $65,600,000; 

 yield, $76,000,000, this sum representing the first value of the various 

 products. At present the fisheries of the United States are more 

 valuable than those of any other country except possibly Japan. 



The great food-producing fisheries of the offshore, coastal, and 

 interior waters show few specially marked recent changes in condition. 

 The tendency in the last few years, whether dowTiward or upward, 

 has for the most part simply been continued. Among the most im- 

 portant fisheries of the Atlantic coast it may be noted that the 

 mackerel fishery not only shows no signs of improvement but has 

 reached a lower ebb than ever before, owing to the scarcity of fish, 

 while the lobster fishery, more valuable in Maine than in all the other 

 States combined, is reported to be undergoing a marked recuperation 

 as a result of protection and artificial propagation. The major fish- 

 eries of the Great Lakes contmue to suffer from lack of uniform and 

 consistent regulation. Under present conditions artificial propagation 

 is regarded as essential for the perpetuation of the industry. 



