PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1939 19) 
pilchards visiting Oregon and Washington waters must be limited 
by the size of the stock of old adults left after the much larger Cali- 
fornia fishery has taken its toll. 
The evidence of exploitation discussed above, though subject. to 
some uncertainties, taken together, indicate that ‘the pilchard indus- 
try has reached maturity. By this is meant that it has arrived ab 
a point where further expansion can result only in a rise of pro- 
duction cost. The industry is also at a point where it is likely to 
feel the effect of fluctuations in natural abundance more than it has 
im the past. It may even have overexpanded to the extent where 
the present level of total catch cannot be indefinitely maintained. 
If so, the effect of this situation may be that the successful year- 
classes, which occur as a rule only once in several years, will not 
persist long enough to last until succeeding successful year-classes 
pe During such interims the industry will suffer for lack of 
raw material and this effect would probably be apparent rather soon. 
A second effect to be expected, theoretically, would not be so readily 
or so quickly apparent; 1. e., a reduction in the spawning population 
to the point where so few eggs would be spawned that, even under 
conditions favorable for survival, the successful year-classes would 
not be so large as formerly. Thus, the fishery would have, over a 
long period, a downward trend, and would face not only a sharply 
fluctuating supply, but fluctuations at an increasingly lower level. 
GREAT LAKES FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS 
Dr. JOHN VAN OOSTEN, in charge 
The Great Lakes staff, under the direction of Dr. John Van 
Oosten, in 1939 as in 1938, devoted its attention largely to the con- 
finuation or completion of projects already under way. Ten pub- 
jications appeared in 1939, and 4 papers, totalling 380 manuscript 
pages, are now in the hands of the printer. Several other reports 
are complete or nearing completion. Field work during the year 
was limited to a brief preliminary survey of the sport and commer- 
cial fisheries of Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. 
One of the most significant events of the year was the revision 
of the commercial fishing regulations for the State of Wisconsin 
waters of Lake Michigan in October 1939, which constituted another 
important step toward the attainment of uniform regulations for all 
waters of that lake, The executive order, which was issued under 
the provisions of Wisconsin’s discretionary power act, will, if en- 
forced, bring the regulations for the Lake Michigan waters of that 
State as to size limits, mesh sizes, and closed seasons substantially in 
agreement with the State of Michigan regulations. Although a ma- 
jority of the commercial operators: prev iously had agreed to accept 
the provisions of the order, certain fishermen obtained a temporary 
injunction to prevent the conservation department from enforeing 
the new regulations. It is anticipated that the case will reach the 
State Supreme Court for final settlement. 
On the whole, the past has been marked by an increasing interest 
on the part of the general public in the welfare of the Great Lakes 
fisheries. Newspapers in the Great Lakes region, and sportsmen’s 
journals, have repeatedly carried articles calling attention to the 
