22 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
took a special investigation of the subject in the waters of South 
Carolina as typical of the conditions in several southern States. The 
survey covered a period of several months and involved many ex- 
periments or fishing trials intended to determine the proper sorts of 
gear to use under the varying local conditions. The results of the 
survey may be summarized as follows: 
The “upstate” waters will support only limited commercial fish- 
eries and the output of these may be consumed locally; much local 
interest was found among farmers and others who possessed some 
sort of equipment for catching fish which they were unable to use 
because of the severe legal restrictions upon the fishery. The larger 
rivers, especially in their lower courses, offer favorable opportuni- 
ties for the development of larger commercial fisheries. It 1s prob- 
able that fishing for carp in rivers near the coast for shipment to 
northern markets will prove distinctly profitable, especially if, as 
expected, the carp can be taken successfully during the winter 
months, when the conditions for transportation are at the best and 
the market prices are most attractive. Local fishermen witnessed and 
participated in the fishing trials. 
An incidental result of the experiments and the inquiries associated 
therewith was the preparation of a paper treating of the methods of 
capturing carp commercially under different conditions. The in- 
formation thus furnished will be applicable in all parts of the coun- 
try where unutilized carp resources exist. 
Other investigations have been directed toward locating beds of sea 
mussels on the North Atlantic coast which will support a commercial 
fishery of importance, and toward completing surveys of the sea-mus- 
sel resources of the coast of California and the shellfish resources of 
the northwest coast. 
EXPERIMENTAL FISH CULTURE. 
The investigations and experiments conducted at the fisheries 
biological station at Fairport, Iowa, and directed toward the estab- 
lishment of a more scientific foundation for fish culture in ponds, 
have continued to yield interesting and useful results. Both the 
buffalofish and the channel catfish have again responded satisfac- 
torily to the attempts at propagation in ponds. 
A comprehensive study has been made of the abundance, life his- 
tory, habits, and importance of many species of dragon-flies and 
damsel-flies in fish ponds. In their relation to fish it is learned that 
while the larve feed to some extent upon the same kinds of food as 
some fishes, they also subsist to a considerable degree upon animals 
that are directly harmful to fish; and while, under stress of hunger, 
they occasionally eat small fishes, they themselves afford an abundant 
food supply for fish. Although the nonaquatic adults sometimes 
prey upon beneficial insects, the larger part of their subsistence com- 
prises positively injurious insects. The dragon-flies and damsel-flies 
have a distinct economic importance in their effect upon the balance 
of life both within and without the ponds. 
Studies of aquatic plants in relation to fish culture are making 
satisfactory progress and are contributing to the desired fund of 
knowledge regarding the utility of both the higher and the lower 
