VIII REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



tion of the fishery as a whole. It may be necessary to provide for 

 the licensiii*^ of whaling companies, setting forth the terms under 

 which they shall operate, including as complete utilization of the 

 animals killed as is practicable. It is also highly important that an 

 international agency be established for a more intensified study of 

 the trend of the fishery, the need for regulations, and the character 

 of regulations essential to prevent the exhaustion of the supply, with 

 as little interference with commercial operations as possible. 



JAPANESE \^SSELS IN BERING SEA 



The summer of 1930 marked the advent of Japanese vessels in 

 Bering Sea waters adjacent to the Alaskan coast for the packing of 

 crabs. The floating cannery steamer Talhoku Mmio, a vessel of over 

 7,000 tons, accompanied by the steam beam trawler Myogl ifam and 

 a number of power launches, was operated about 20 miles offshore 

 from Nelson Lagoon on the Alaska Peninsula. A pack of upward 

 of 20,000 cases of crabs was made. The trawler Kokusal Maru^ a 

 vessel 118 feet in length, engaged in experimental fishing in Bristol 

 Bay waters 15 or more miles offshore in August, 1930, a small take of 

 cod, crabs, and halibut resulting. In addition, the Japanese Govern- 

 ment vessel Hakuyo Maru made a trip in 1930 to waters of Bering 

 Sea. This is a training ship of the Imperial Fisheries Institute of 

 Tokyo and is a modern steel vessel of about 2,000 tons. In the sum- 

 mer of 1931 the floating cannery Nagato Maru was engaged in the 

 packing of crabs in Bering Sea waters a few miles north of the 

 Alaska Peninsula. 



DOMESTIC RELATIONS 

 AID TO OUR ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 



Hawaiian pearl oysters. — At the invitation of the Territorial gov- 

 ernment of Hawaii, the bureau detailed its oyster expert, Dr. P. S. 

 Galtsoff, to an investigation of the newly discovered pearl-oyster 

 resources of Pearl and Hermes Reef for the purpose of developing a 

 conservation policy. Transported from Honolulu on Jul}^ 15, 1930, 

 by the Navy mine layer W ki'p'pooTw\lU and accompanied by 3 Philip- 

 pine divers, Doctor Galtsoff' spent 5 weeks in making a series of 

 biological investigations at 75 stations in the lagoon where the oysters 

 occur. Pearl oysters were found at depths from 10 to 47 feet, at- 

 tached almost exclusively to live corals. All oyster reefs examined 

 Srhowed obvious signs of depletion. One-year-old oysters were very 

 few in number. The oysters spawn in July and August. It is esti- 

 mated that since 1927, when these beds were discovered, not less than 

 100 tons of shells (al)out 106,000 oysters) were taken; and, without 

 protection, the beds will be completely wiped out in a short time. 

 The closure of the beds to fishing for a period of 3 to 5 years was 

 recommended. Several hundred live oysters were brouglit back to 

 Honolulu and planted in Kaneohe l^ay, where conditions appeared 

 to be suitable for their growth and propagation. An examination 

 of this stock made on April 17, 1931, disclosed that the oysters were 

 doing well, those examined having nearly doubled in size since they 

 were planted in the previous September. The Territorial government 



