b REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



tion of and demand for fish as food. The Bureau is in position to 

 render still further and much-needed service in various fields. It 

 has the equipment, the directing personnel, the conception of the 

 problems, and the knowledge of the best ways of approach. The 

 chief requirement is an adequate appropriation. 



The past year has been noteworthy for the increasing attention 

 given to the commercial possibilities of the fishery industries, to pro- 

 viding means for increasing production, to effecting improvements 

 in preparation of the products for market, and to the saving of the 

 by-products of the fisheries for use in the arts and industries. This 

 widespread interest has resulted in increasing the demands upon the 

 Bureau for trustworthy and detailed information regarding the fish- 

 eries, products, and processes; for the conduct of technological in- 

 vestigations which jjroperly come within its sphere of operations; 

 and for guidance and assistance in the upbuilding of certain fisheries 

 without endangering the harvests of the future. Because of its 

 limited appropriations it has been unable to meet many of these 

 demands in the manner they deserve. This is especially true of the 

 calls for various technological investigations to solve difficulties 

 encountered in the preservation or utilization of certain fishery prod- 

 ucts and for educating the public as to the merits of fish as food, 

 particularly the little-known varieties. For lack of such work large 

 quantities of valuable protein food, the high-priced element of our 

 diet, are being wasted at a time when there is particular need for the 

 practice of economy and saving. 



The Bureau has conducted a number of important investigations, 

 as, for example, a study of the basic principles governing the pres- 

 ervation of fish with salt, experiments in the recovery of old brine 

 and salt for reuse, development of methods of canning the Pacific 

 mackerel and other abundant but neglected fishes of the west coast, 

 preliminary studies of some features of freezing fish in brine, and 

 the possibility of producing pearl essence from the scales of native 

 fishes. Practical application of the results of its investigation in 

 the salting of fish have been made and canners have been supplied 

 with information gained in its temporary canning laboratory at San 

 Pedro, Calif. Material aid has been given in the clcA^elopment of 

 certain fisheries, such as those for sharks and porpoises ; in increasing 

 the use of by-products of the fisheries; in extending the production 

 of fish oil, scrap, meal, leather, etc.; in determining to what uses 

 various products are best suited; and in supplying information re- 

 garding sources of supply and possible markets for the finished 

 products. A study of foreign methods of preserving nets has been 

 made and a paper has been prepared for publication for the use of 

 our fishermen in effecting economies in their expenditures for nets. 

 Encouragement has been given to determining the practicability of 

 using seaplanes in locating schools of fish, and arrangements have 

 been made through the Navy Department for sending out planes for 

 this purpose to enable those in the industry to determine their value 

 as a commercial undertaking. 



In the collection and dissemination of statistical information 

 regarding the fisheries more has been accomplished than in any 

 recent year. The Bureau has completed a canvass of the coastal 

 fisheries of the South Atlantic and Gulf States for the calendar year 

 1918 and has prepared for publication detailed statistics of fisheries 



