REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 7 



this wovk is the iinniial stocking; of muny thousjiiuls of snuill ponds' 

 hikes, niul streams with food and f2;ame fishes iiiten<k^d for home use 

 rather than for sak>, and hence not figuring in the statistical returns. 

 Conspicuous examples of acclimatization are the shad and striped 

 bass of the Pacific seaboard, which are increasing in abundance and 

 liave already yielded several million dollars as the result of an initial 

 outlay of less than $5,000; and the carp, which has become the most 

 ^\'idely distributed, abundant, and valuable fish of the interior waters 

 of the country. 



Among the most important needs of the fishing industry are the 

 stoppage of the waste of products considered unmarketable, the 

 thorough utilization of parts rejected m the preparation of products 

 for market, and the creation of a local demand for fish and other 

 animals known to be economically valuable in other sections or other 

 countries. Much progress has already been made in the realization 

 of these needs, and a great impetus will be given to the fishing indus- 

 try when there is a general recognition of their importance. 



THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 



More important than any other branch of the fisheries, the United 

 States oyster industry has special interest because it is as valuable 

 as that of all other countries combined, and because of the great 

 development it is capable of undergoing as a result of the more general 

 practice of oyster culture. The oyster business, which in nearly 

 every State from Massachusetts to Texas is the most extensive branch 

 of the fisheries, has for several years been the subject of the most 

 detailed statistical canvass ever undertaken; and the results so far 

 obtained have been published in a number of special bulletins, leaving 

 only a part of the Middle Atlantic region still to be covered. Par- 

 ticular attention has been given to the progress of oyster culture, 

 on which the future success of the industry depends. 



As the oyster fishery of the New England States has been exhibited 

 in detail in the report for the fiscal year 1911, the extent and con- 

 dition of the business along remaining parts of the east coast \\dll 

 now be considered. 



In the South Atlantic States the taking of oysters from public and 

 private grounds in 1910 engaged the attention of over 4,200 persons, 

 who received $436,500 in wages and handled 1,700,000 bushels of 

 ovsters with a market value of $364,000, of which 456,000 bushels, 

 worth $171,000, came from private grounds. The industry is less 

 extensive here than in any other coast section, owing to the exhaustion 

 of the natural grounds and the comparatively little attention given 

 to oyster planting, combined with unfavorable physical conditions 

 in many localities. The output is largest in South Carolina but the 

 A-alue of the product is greatest in Georgia, owing to the larger pro- 



