PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1938 AT 
Kenneth Mosher, Ralph Silliman, and Earl Palmer. The prosecu- 
tion of these investigations over so large an area was made possible 
by the cooperation and assistance of several organizations and _per- 
sons. Stanford University contributed spacious laboratories for the 
central office, and extended the privileges of the University to staff 
members. The California Institute of Technology provided space 
for the southern field station at its marine laboratory in Corona del 
Mar. The California State Fisheries Laboratory furnished records 
essential to various phases of the work. Various branches of the 
Government service gave much valuable cooperation during the year. 
The aerial observations were carried on in planes of the United 
States Navy and Coast Guard. Space was provided a member of 
the Bureau on board the United States Coast Guard Cutter Hermes 
for experimental work on collecting apparatus at sea and for a cruise 
to Magdalena Bay, where samples of young fish were obtained. Also, 
the Coast Guard, as well as the United States Weather Bureau, fur- 
nished weather data for points along the Pacific coast. During. the 
year the staff enjoyed the advice of members of these organizations, 
particularly of Drs. Frank W. Weymouth, Willis H. Rich, and Hugh 
H. Skilling of Stanford University, and Lt. Comdr. C. W. Thomas 
and Lts. S. C. Linholm and W. E. Sinton of the United States Coast 
Guard. The extensive sampling of the catch was made possible by 
the willing cooperation of members of the fishing industry from San 
Diego to Seattle. 
GREAT LAKES FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS 
Dr. JoHN Van OosteN, in charge 
The critical depletion of the more valuable commercial species con- 
tinues to be the major problem of the Great Lakes fisheries. The 
extent of this depletion is apparent from comparison of the present- 
day production of certain species with that of earlier years. As an 
illustration, if normal production in Lake Michigan is given an index 
value of 100, the present productions of important species are as fol- 
lows: Wall-eyed pike, 62; lake herring, 59; lake trout, 58; whitefish, 
58; yellow perch, 48. Similarly, the production indexes of perch 
and chubs in Lake Huron are only 44 and 36, respectively, and the 
production of the renowned Lake Superior whitefish is only 10 per- 
cent of normal. The preceding examples are only representative; in 
Lake Erie the production of nearly all important commercial species 
is without question on the decline, and the present total production 
of Lake Ontario is only 20 percent of normal. 
The downward trend in the production and abundance of im- 
portant commercial species of the Great Lakes has by no means 
reached its limit, except, of course, for such forms as the sturgeon, 
the Lake Ontario bloater, the blackfin of Lakes Michigan and Huron, 
the bluefin and longjaw of Lake Superior, and the Lake Erie cisco, 
all of which have become commercially unimportant. With most 
species, present conditions represent only a stage in a process of de- 
pletion that will certainly lead to the complete ruin of the fishery 
unless immediate and drastic measures are taken to halt present 
abuses. 
As proof of the contention that depletion is even now proceeding 
rapidly, it may be pointed out that trout fishermen of Lake Superior 
