402 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



the issuance of the previous report,^ together with such summarized 

 statements and interpretations of the statistics as are deemed signifi- 

 cant and useful. In the preparation of this report numerous members 

 of the division's staff have taken part, and their assistance is appre- 

 ciativel}'^ acknowledged. 



Some changes as to scope and arrangement of statistics have been 

 incorporated in this report. In all cases the statistics on value of 

 property and cash capital have been discontinued, except for the 

 Middle Atlantic States for 1926, the statistics for which were col- 

 lected before this policy was adopted. Although the value of such 

 statistical information is appreciated fully, the difficulty of collect- 

 ing reliable and comparable data has been insurmountable; and since 

 comparisons, both with one region and another and with one 3^ear 

 and another, might be grossly misleading, it has been considered 

 necessary to omit such items. All statistical statements applicable 

 to the country as a whole appear in the first part of the report, 

 and the statistics pertaining to particular localities and regions 

 are taken up by geographical sections in the following order: New 

 England States, Middle Atlantic States, Chesapeake Bay States, 

 South Atlantic States, Gulf States, Pacific Coast States, Great Lakes 

 States, and Mississippi River and tributaries. In all cases there is 

 given a summary of the most recent statistics pertaining to the section 

 as a whole, together with references to the previous publication that 

 contains the detailed statements. This is followed by such detailed 

 statistics on the particular localities of the region as have become 

 available since the previous annual report. 



PART 1.— OPERATIONS OF THE DIVISION 



COLLECTION OF STATISTICS 



Fishery statistics, unlike other statistical data, must serve not only 

 as trade information but as the material that the biologist must have 

 in studying the problems of conservation. Since statistical informa- 

 tion is fundamental in this respect, it is highly important to achieve 

 progress in this branch of work, which is admittedly inadequate at the 

 present time. During the past four decades fishery statistics have 

 been collected by canvassing the fisheries of eight geographical sections 

 of the country, taking one at a time, and completing them as rapidly 

 as possible with the personnel available for this purpose. In recent 

 years it has been possible to reach each section about once every five 

 years. This method, while the best possible under existing condi- 

 tions, had two fundamental defects. First, the fisherman were reached 

 a considerable time after the previous year's business had been closed, 

 and unless they kept a record of their operations and catch (a rare 

 circumstance) the information received was but an approximate 

 estimate rather than a definite record. Second, the fortunes of a 

 fishery fluctuate so widely from year to year that data acquired at 

 intervals of five years are likely to be misleading, for they may repre- 

 sent a poor or a good year rather than a normal one. Annual statistics 

 are essential to indicate accurately the trends in fishery matters. 



2 Fishery industries of the I'nited States, 1926. By Oscar E. Sette. Appendix V, Report, U. S. Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries, 1927, pp. 337-483. Bureau of Fisheries Doc. No. 1025. 



