II REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES 



Alaska fur-seal service — Continued. ^^^® 



Take of sealskins xxxvii 



Markinj: of reserved seals xxxvii 



Sales of sealskins xxxviii 



Foxes XXXVIII 



Fur-seal skins taken by natives xxxviii 



Fur-seal patrol xxxviii 



Protection of walruses and sea lions xxxix 



Vessel service notes xxxix 



Reclassification xl 



Appropriations xx 



Department of Commerce, 



Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Washington, July i, 1925. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following summary of the 

 major operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1925. 



The chief functions of the bureau are to aid in conserving our 

 fish supply and to increase its usefulness. Conservation has been 

 defined to mean "wise use," but to make no use Avhatever of a 

 resource is not conservation. Neither do depletion or total destruc- 

 tion through selfish disregard of the necessity for maintaining such 

 a resource or the wasteful handling of its i)roducts constitute wise 

 use. Any resource may be drawn upon freely so long as we do not 

 endanger the future supply. 



In order to make use of our fisheries and yet achieve their con- 

 servation the angler should refrain from taking more fish than he 

 can use merely for the purpose of displaying his prowess, the com- 

 mercial fisherman should minimize the destruction of immature, 

 undersized, or unsalable fish, and the manufacturer and distributor 

 should guard against losses through careless or wasteful practices. 

 All should aid in the protection of a sufficient number of spawning 

 fish to insure a continuing supply, and should do everything possible 

 to prevent the pollution with noxious materials of the waters which 

 sustain our fisheries. The bottom lands, bayous, and swamps, which 

 constitute the nurseries for the young fish and provide their food 

 supply, should not be reclaimed unless it is assured that they will be 

 more productive when put to other uses. When dams or other ob- 

 structions are erected in streams supporting important runs of 

 anadromous fishes, fishways should be provided to enable the fish 

 to reach the spawning beds. Screening irrigation ditches is also 

 essential in order that the young fish ma}'^ not be destroyed or lost. 



In the days of the first settlements the fisheries were invaluable, 

 and without them some of the settlements would have been wiped 

 out. Our forefathers found on this continent an abundance of wild 

 game and, to them, unlimited forests and tillable lands, but the in- 

 roads made upon these natural resources since then by a rapidly 

 growing population have furnished food for thought as to how we 

 may maintain our food supply. With the situation as it is to-day 

 there has come a growing appreciation of the importance of our 

 fisheries and of the need for assisting nature to increase the supply 

 of fish. To accomplish this task the science of aquiculture — water 

 farming — has been developed, and it devolves upon us to ascertain 



