REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES IH 



with greater definiteness its possibilities and its limitations. Some 

 progress has been made in a few fields, such as oyster farming, ter- 

 rapin culture, fresh-water mussel culture, and the propagation of 

 game fishes, but as a Nation we have advanced less than some Eu- 

 ropean countries, largely because when the natural supply was abun- 

 dant the impulse to increase it was lacking. The time has come,, 

 however, when the development of aquiculture must receive greater 

 attention. 



This science differs materially from agriculture and is much more 

 complex. It can not be applied to all fisheries or all waters, espe- 

 cially not to the offshore fisheries, and it is therefore of prime im- 

 portance that these be so administered as not to endanger their 

 existence. For this reason, also, biological and statistical investiga- 

 tions are necessaiy, and with the realization of the importance of 

 solving these problems fisheries research has been revolutionized and 

 great advances made in developing methods of evaluating the 

 abundance of commercial species and the drain made upon them by 

 commercial operations. The enlargement of the scope of the bureau's 

 activities in this field has enabled it to make gratifying progress 

 toward a solution of such matters. 



The activities of the bureau in relation to the fisheries are wide- 

 spread, including fisheries biology, technology, statistics, aquiculture 

 (including fish culture), oceanography, marketing and trade prac- 

 tices, and methods of the fisheries. As the administration of the fish- 

 eries of Alaska is vested in the Secretary of Commerce, the bureau 

 is afforded the opportunity of directly applying the fruits of its 

 scientific investigations in formulating regulatory measures neces- 

 sary for their conservation and perpetuation. In the States the 

 bureau acts only in an advisory capacity. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES AND FISHERY INDUSTRIES 

 REVIEW 



The number of persons engaged in the fisheries and fishery indus- 

 tries of the United States and Alaska exceeds 190,000; the invest- 

 ment amounts to about $200,000,000; the annual production of fishery 

 products by fishermen is about 2,600,000,000 pounds, valued at about 

 $90,000,000; the output of canned fishery products has an annual 

 value of about $72,000,000; and the production of by-products is 

 valued at about $10,000,000. In 1924 the ports of Boston and Glouces- 

 ter, Mass., and Portland, Me., received from fishing vessels about 

 183,000,000 pounds of fish, valued at about $7,000,000, and at the 

 port of Seattle, Wash., about 28,000,000 pounds, valued at $2,700,000, 

 were landed. 



Comparing the figures on production and value in 1924 with those 

 of 1923 we find that the landings of fish in Boston and Gloucester, 

 Mass., and Portland, Me., increased 4.6 per cent in quantity and de- 

 creased 0.8 per cent in value, while the landings at Seattle, Wash., 

 increased 10.2 per cent in quantity but only 3.4 per cent in value. 

 The production of canned salmon in the United States and Alaska 

 decreased 2.3 per cent in quantity and 6.9 per cent in value; canned 

 sardines in Maine and Massachusetts increased 49.3 per cent in quan- 

 tity and 36 per cent in value ; in California canned sardines increased 

 24.3 per cent in quantity and 18.2 per cent in value; canned tuna 



