REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 7 



of the Gulf States for that year and of the fisheries of the Great 

 Lakes for 1917, toiiothor witli the results of canvasses of the shad 

 fishery of the Hudson Kiver and of the shad and herrinji: fisheries of 

 the t*otoniac' Kiver for 1019, completed durinjr the year. The 

 monthly returns of the quantities and values of the fish landed at 

 Boston and Gloucester, Alass., Portland, Me., and Seattle, Wash., by 

 American and Canadian vessels have been collected by local a<j:ents, 

 tabulated, and published as monthly and annual bulletins for the use 

 of the trade and to serve as a permanent record of the condition and 

 trend of these imjxirtant fisheries. Throu<rh the courtesy of the 

 Health Department of the District of Columbia the Bureau has con- 

 tinued to receive daily reports of the quantity of fishery products 

 received at the municipal fish wharf and market at Washinfiton. D. C. 

 These have been tabidated for the calendar year 1919 for publication. 

 In addition a canvass of the fisheries of the New England States 

 for 1919 has been begun. 



A repoi-t of the work of this division for the calendar year 1919 

 containing a detailed account of investigations, the relations of the 

 Bureau with the fisheries, and full statistical tables and discussions, 

 has been prepared by the assistant in charge and issued as a public 

 document entitled '' Fishery Industries of the United States : Report 

 of the Division of Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries for 1919." 

 Persons desirous of obtaining such detailed information should con- 

 sult this report. 



■UTILIZATION OF BY-PRODUCTS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Inadequacy of supply of various nonfishery products has mate- 

 rially increased the demand for by-products of the fisheries possessing 

 similar qualities. To this class belong fish oils for admixture with 

 other drying oils in the manufacture of paints and varnishes, for 

 purposes of hydrogenation and the like ; fish scrap for use as an in- 

 gredient in fertilizer; meal for use as an animal feed; leather made 

 from fish hides ; and poultry grit from ground oyster shells. To meet 

 these demands the Bureau has given a larger measure of attention 

 to encouraging the saving of the b3'-products of the fisheries, to the 

 solution of problems arising from efforts to put these products to 

 new and more important economic uses, and to supplying informa- 

 tion regarding sources of supply, methods of manufacture, uses, and 

 markets. 



Analyses have been made of the body and liver oils of various spe- 

 cies of sharks and skates, albacore or tuna, and yellow-tail oils to 

 determine more definitely their properties and possible uses. Sarnples 

 of these oils were also furnished the educational bureau of the Paint 

 Manufacturers' Association of the United States to determine their 

 suitability for use in the manufacture of paints and varnishes. From 

 drying tests of tuna oil made by the director of that association, it 

 appears that this oil dries even more rapidly than linseed oil. The 

 yield of oil from the tuna fisheries in southern California in 1919 is 

 estimated at slightly in excess of 100,000 gallons. The oil of the yel- 

 low-tail {Seriola dorsalis) proved as satisfactory as menhaden oil 

 but was not the equal of tuna oil for drying ])urposes. 



Persons employed in the fisheries liave been urged to convert unutil- 

 ized stocks of fish waste into scrap for fertilizer, or preferably into 



