80 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



In the annual surveys of the fisheries of the Great Lakes and 

 Pacific Coast States such exceptional cooperation has been obtained 

 from State fishery agencies in recent years that it has been only 

 necessary for agents of the Bureau to conduct fragmentary surveys 

 to supplement the data available. Recently the States of Maryland 

 and Virginia have adopted very complete statistical programs which 

 not only alleviate the work of our agents but also produce more 

 accurate data. 



COOPEIIATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES 



The coordinating bill, passed during the last session of Congress, 

 calls upon Government Bureaus whose activities affect wildlife, 

 including the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian 

 Affairs, to consult with the Bureau of Fisheries and/or the Bureau 

 of Biological Survey whenever wildlife may be affect^id by activities 

 of the two former organizations. 



In response to this legislation, the Bureau of Reclamation of the 

 Department of Interior has just issued general instructions to its 

 field officers which provide that storage areas for irrigation or power 

 shall be administered as far as possible to avoid detriment to fish 

 and birds, and that when ponded waters are to be lowered to a point 

 adversely affecting fish and game, officials in charge shall notify 

 State and Federal authorities in charge of the protection of fish 

 and game in advance. 



The Bureau of Biological Survej^ lias administered its land- 

 purchasing program in the Upper Mississippi Refuge so as to afford 

 assistance to the Bureau's activities. In this purchasing program 

 the Biological Survey has endeavored to meet the wishes of the 

 Bureau by acquiring tracts within the refuge which can be used 

 for fish-cultural purposes. In the case of the National Park Service, 

 aside from strictly fish-cultural work in stocking park waters, the 

 Bureau has been requested to give further assistance by conducting 

 a survey of the waters of the Great Smoky Mountain National 

 Park, to develop information as to food conditions, suitability of 

 different species, stocking policies, etc., in that area similar to the 

 data being worked out in the western parks. 



With funds received from the War Department, Corps of Engi- 

 neers, to carry on the cooperative investigation at Bonneville on 

 the Columbia River, studies are being made as to how the fish should 

 be passed over the dam, both as mature upstream migrants and 

 young downstream migrants. The problem is the most difficult one 

 of its kind yet encountered since the use of devices used successfully 

 at other dams has not been found entirely applicable at Bonneville 

 because of the much greater height of the dam. 



The Bureau also receives extremely valuable cooperation from 

 the Engineer Corps in its studies of pollution in the Mississippi 

 River system. In this work a floating laboratory is used, set up in 

 a foi-mer Engineers' quarterboat. During tlie summer working sea- 

 son for several years past this boat has been moved from place to 

 place by the Engineers' river tugs. 



The Bureau of Agricultural Economics collects information on 

 cold-storage holdings of fish in the United States. The Bureau of 



