Z U.S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



FOREWORD 



In order to understand the great economic importance to the 

 Nation and to the piibHc welfare of the field of service wliich this 

 Division of the Bureau's activities covers, it is necessary to bear in 

 mind that there are only two basic food industries, namely, the 

 products of the land and the products of the sea. Food must be 

 obtained from either land or sea. In the broad sense, the fisherman 

 IS the farmer of the sea. As such, he is a primary producer and at the 

 present time he is in need of the same services as are being given to 

 the farmer of the land. This will give a general perspective of the 

 functions which should be performed by the Division of Fishery 

 Industries. This report only describes the functions which the 

 Division actually performs with the personnel, funds, and facilities 

 available. It thus can be seen quite readily ttiat there is a wide 

 variance between the functions which the Division could and should 

 perform with adequate facilities and those functions which it does 

 perform with present facilities. The chief need of the fishery indus- 

 tries of this country today is a n:ore efficient and orderly system of 

 marketing its products. These n^arketing reforms cannot be worked 

 out overnight. Very little study has been made by the Federal 

 establishment of marketing methods in the fisheries. The importance 

 of laying the foundation, as soon as possible, for these marketing 

 studies in the fisheries will be apparent as this report unfolds. The 

 fisheries constitute one of our great natural resources and a most 

 vital source of foods for the American people. All of the activities 

 and functions of this Division are devoted to the fullest economic 

 husbandry and utilization of the annual harvests of these resources. 

 As this report proceeds, it will be seen that some of the Division's 

 activities have great significance in conservation and thus are of 

 great concern to the American people and their posterity. 



This report constitutes a summary of the activities of the Division 

 of Fishery Industries as well as an annual review of fishery statistics 

 of the United States. As its name indicates, this Division of the 

 Bureau is concerned with the activities and welfare of the fishery 

 industries, including the commercial fisheries, the trade in fishery 

 products, and the fish canning and preserving industries. Its func- 

 tions include the collection and publication of fishery statistics, the 

 conducting of market surveys, the prosecution of research designed to 

 solve the technical problems of the industry, and tlie dissemination 

 of authoritative and practical information to the fishery industries 

 and the public. Results of technological investigations and market- 

 ing studies are published in separate documents as each project is 

 completed. The information obtained from statistical surveys is 

 pubhshed in part 2 of this report, which includes detailed statistical 

 information for the year 1932 that has become available since the 

 issuance of the previous report ("Fishery Industries of the United 

 States, 1932," by R. H. Fiedler), together with such summarized 

 statements and interpretations of the statistics as are deemed signifi- 

 cant and useful. In the })reparation of this report, members of the 

 Division's stafl' liave taken part and their assistance is appreciatively 

 acknowledged. 



