[Reprint from the Annual Report of the Secretary of Commerce, 1929] 
BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Available statistics indicate that there was a decrease in the 
volume but an increase in the value of fishery products taken in the 
United States and Alaska during 1937 as compared with the preced- 
ing year. Data on the catch were collected for both 1936 and 1937 
in the Chesapeake, South Atlantic and Gulf, Pacific, and Lake 
States and in Alaska. The combined catch in these sections alone 
shows a decrease of 13 percent in volume but an increase of 7 per- 
cent in value. Decreased catches were made in each of the five 
geographical sections; however, the principal reductions occurred 
in the Pacific Coast States where greatly reduced catches of pilchards 
were taken, and in Alaska where there was a large decline in the 
catch of salmon. 
The total catch of fishery products in the United States and Alaska, 
as based on the most recent surveys, amounted to 4,352,549,000 
pounds, valued at $100,845,000. About 130,000 fishermen were 
employed in making this catch. 
The production of canned fishery products in the United States 
and Alaska during 1937 amounted to 742,197,000 pounds, valued at 
$105,175,000; the output of byproducts was valued at $36,804,000; 
the production of frozen fishery products, excluding packaged 
products, amounted to 103,112,000 pounds, estimated to be valued 
at $8,800,000; and fresh and frozen packaged fish and shellfish, 
201,803,000 pounds, valued at $27,678,000. Based on surveys for 
previous years, the production of cured fishery products amounted 
to 104,339,000 pounds, valued at $15,635,000. It is estimated that 
about 686,000,000 pounds of fresh fishery products (excluding pack- 
aged fish and shellfish), valued at about $57,000,000, was marketed 
during 1937. The total marketed value to domestic primary handlers 
of all fishery products in 1937 is estimated at $251,000,000. 
Fishery products imported for consumption were valued at 
$50,636,000 and domestic exports were valued at $14,567,000. | 
The value of the production of canned fishery products in all 
sections increased 11 percent as compared with 1936; byproducts 
increased 5 percent; frozen fish, about 1 percent; and packaged fish, 
3 percent. 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
HALIBUT INVESTIGATIONS 
The International Fisheries Commission continued the investiga- 
tion and regulation of the Pacific halibut fishery, under authority of 
the treaty of Jauary 29, 1937, between the United States and Canada. 
In fulfillment of its regulatory duties, the Commission recorded 
the catch from each regulatory area, forecast and announced the date 
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