Department of Commerce, 



Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Washington^ July i, 1931. 

 The honorable the Secretary of Commerce. 



Dear Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to submit the following 

 report of the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal 

 year ended June 30, 1931. 



The commercial fisheries of the United States and Alaska in the 

 calendar year 1929 furnished employment to more than 191,000 per- 

 sons, of whom 123,000 were fishermen and 64,000 were in the whole- 

 sale and manufacturing industries. The catch amounted to 3,567,- 

 000,000 pounds, returning to the fishermen $123,054,000. Commercial 

 fishermen conduct their operations on the high seas, along the entire 

 stretch of our extensive coast line, including Alaska, on the Great 

 Lakes, and in interior waters. 



Angling is followed in practically all waters capable of support- 

 ing fish life, and interest in this recreational pastime has tre- 

 mendously increased. The Senate Special Committee on Conserva- 

 tion of Wild Life Resources estimates that there are 8,500,000 fish- 

 ermen or anglers in the country and that the value of fishing tackle 

 manufactared is approximately $25,000,000. 



The national Bureau of Fisheries is concerned with the wise use 

 of this great natural resource and its maintenance and extension 

 without danger of exhaustion. The output of fish and eggs from its 

 88 stations and substations located in 35 States, Alaska, and the 

 District of Columbia approximated 7,122,000,000 during the fiscal 

 year ended June, 1931, and included marine, anadromous, and fresh- 

 Avater species of commercial importance, as well as the highly prized 

 game fishes. The bureau supplied 119 cooperative nurseries with 

 over 4,000,000 young fish, increased its own output of fingerling 

 fish by 28 per cent, and salvaged more than 182,500,000 fish in the 

 Mississippi River section. Dependence on it for fish for stocking 

 purposes was greatly increased because of the ruinous drought of 

 the preceding season, in which many streams completely dried up. 

 Added fish-cultural facilities provided for under the 5-year con- 

 struction and maintenance program (act approved May 21, 1930) 

 are being established as rapidly as possible. 



The bureau's program of biological research included studies of 

 30 important food and game fishes, expansion of its program of 

 research in the fields of experimental fish culture and oyster farming, 

 and direct aids to the fishermen in forecasting the abundance of 

 certain species, in effecting means for lessening the destruction of 

 immature and undersized fish, and in determining what restrictions 

 were needed to conserve the supply. The completion of a modern 

 laboratory at Seattle, Wash., provides much needed facilities for the 



