FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1939 189 
During the year several members of the Bureau’s staff cooperated 
with officials of the Maine Sea and Shore Fisheries Commission and 
the Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and Game in establishing 
systems for the collection of detailed fishery statistics in Maine and 
Connecticut. As the data collected by these agencies will be avail- 
able to the Bureau, it is anticipated that in the future it will only be 
necessary for our agents to conduct limited field surveys in these States 
in order to obtain complete operating unit and catch data. 
In addition, in nearly every other State where commercial fishing is 
prosecuted, some type of cooperation in its statistical work is rendered 
the Bureau by the State fishery agencies or other organizations. This 
makes it possible for the Bureau to make statistical surveys of a greater 
portion of our fishery industries than otherwise would be possible. 
COOPERATION WITH FISHERY ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
The Division of Fishery Industries cooperated during the year with 
the Fishery Advisory Committee in the carrying out of the Com- 
mittee’s function as a body advisory to the Secretary. Technical 
assistance was made available to the Committee at alli times, current 
information upon the Bureau’s work was furnished from time to time 
for the information of the members, and help was furnished in the 
planning and arrangement of the annual Committee meeting. 
On February 2 and 3, 1940, the annual meeting of the Committee 
was held in Washington, D. C., in the Conference Room of the Secre- 
tary of the Interior. Members of the staff of the Division attended. 
Special statements were furnished to facilitate the conduct of business 
and considerable assistance and advice were supplied after the meeting 
in the preparation of the annual report of the Committee. 
COOPERATIVE PAN-AMERICAN FISHERY RESEARCH 
During the past year the Division continued work toward the 
development of a program for Pan-American fishery research. Fol- 
lowing the detail of the writer as adviser on fishery matters to the 
President’s Educational Commission, which visited Puerto Rico in 
April 1939, as reported in last year’s report of the Division, the 
Bureau was allotted $25,000 by the Public Works Administration for 
the establishment of a fishery research laboratory in Puerto Rico. A 
site for this laboratory, consisting of a plot of approximately 2 acres, 
has been obtained on the campus of the College of Agriculture and 
Mechanics Arts at Mayaguez, a fishing port on the western side of the 
island. This was secured through the cooperation of the Board of 
Trustees of the University of Puerto Rico. Plans are being drafted 
for the construction of the laboratory building, which is expected to be 
ready for occupancy early in 1941. 
TECHNOLOGICAL FISHERY RESEARCH 
Recent tabulations indicate that the people of Puerto Rico consume 
around 40 million pounds of fish annually. Except for a few million 
pounds produced locally, this is all imported—mostly from foreign 
countries. There is reason to believe that local fisheries can be 
expanded to supply a large part of this demand. Thus, research at 
