340 U.S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



indicate that depletion will never occur. On the contrary, because 

 of the short life of the common shrimp, which is believed to be only 

 1 year, it is possible that depletion can become a serious problem. 

 Consequently, it is recommended that all States utilizing shrimp 

 commercially provide for records of the catch suitable for purposes 

 of abundance analysis. Louisiana is the only State which has taken 

 steps toward this goal. The Louisiana Department of Conservation 

 recently inaugurated a system whereby any person receiving shrimp 

 directly from a fisherman must complete a form furnished in trip- 

 licate by the State. The completed form gives the following infor- 

 mation : The date, the name of the person receiving the shrimp, the 

 name of the fisherman or captain, the name and registration number 

 of the boat, the approximate locality of the catch, the type of 

 gear (seine, trawl, or cast net) used, the length of the net used, 

 the amount of shrimp received, and the price paid for them. The 

 original is given to the fisherman, the first carbon retained by the 

 purchaser, and the second carbon held by the purchaser until col- 

 lected by an agent of the conservation department. In this way the 

 required information is obtained daily on each catch of shrimp by 

 every fisherman. 



If this system is continued in the proper manner, it should be pos- 

 sible within a few years to determine closely any annual fluctuations 

 in the abundance of shrimp in Louisiana. A definite knowledge 

 of the abundance of shrimp is not only of benefit to the State, in 

 that when depletion occurs it may be detected in its early stages 

 and proper remedial actions taken, but also such knowledge is of 

 great benefit to the industry because it will tend to prevent the 

 enactment of restrictive measures when they are not required. 



It is strongly urged that the other States of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf area follow the course of Louisiana and adopt adequate 

 statistical systems for the ultimate benefit of the State and of the 

 industry, 



PACIFIC COAST AND ALASKA FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS 



The major salmon and herring investigations carried on by the 

 staff of the Fisheries Biological Station at Seattle, Wash., were con- 

 tinued during 1933. Although the field activities of these investi- 

 gations are confined to definite localities in Alaska and on the Pacific 

 coast, they all have as their common goal the study of the causes 

 responsible for the fluctuations in the abundances of these species 

 with the aim of providing for permanent and productive fisheries 

 throughout the entire region. 



The development of two power dam projects on the Columbia Eiver 

 during the past year necessitated a study of the ways and means of 

 protecting the migratory fish at the dams. During the summer and 

 fall a survey was made of the salmon and trout populations in the 

 Columbia Eiver and its tributaries in the vicinity of the dam site 

 for the Grand Coulee Dam in the State of Washington. The results 

 from this survey were used as a basis for recommendations concern- 

 ing the protection of the migratory fish at this dam. In the latter 

 part of November, Harlan B. Holmes, one of the members of the 

 station's staff, was temporarily assigned to the study of the ways and 



