VIII REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES 



§inia and Maryland, leading one to believe that the fishery of one 

 tate is affected by what occurs in the fishery of the other. The two 

 States involved have accorded the bureau their hearty cooperation, 

 and the investigation is being continued in the hope that a solution 

 of the problem will ultimately be reached. 



COOPERATION WITH THE STATES 



The various States having the responsibility of protecting their 

 respective fisheries are faced by many problems, one of the most 

 difficult of which is the evaluation of the destructiveness of various 

 types of fishing gear, upon which rests the decision as to which 

 class merits tolerance and which restriction or prohibition. 



During the past year the State of Maryland applied to the bureau 

 to determine whether the trawl net used in the Chesapeake Bay and 

 its tributaries is unnecessarily destructive of young and unsalable 

 fish. An investigation, in which the State of Maryland and the 

 bureau cooperated, showed decisively that this gear is destructive of 

 large quantities of young perch and striped bass. As a result, the 

 practice of fishing with this gear has been stopped. 



An investigation of the destructiveness of various types of gear 

 is also under way in North Carolina in cooperation with that State. 



INFORMATION SERVICE 



The fishery industries utilize a great variety of fish, many of them 

 requiring different methods of handling, different processes of smok- 

 ing, salting, canning, or other mode of preservation. The abundance 

 of fish fluctuates greatly, causing corresponding changes in produc- 

 tion and markets. This complexity of methods and change in yield 

 have created an unusual demand for authoritative information on a 

 wide range of fishery subjects, which the bureau is called upon to 

 supply. During the year 16,000 copies of statistical bulletins cover- 

 ing 42 subjects Avere distributed to interested persons, 1,600 letters 

 were written in reply to specific requests for statistical, technological, 

 or trade information, and foreign trade information on 50 subjects 

 was disseminated in 3,800 letters. That this service is useful to 

 many of those who have received the information is shown by the 

 numerous letters of appreciation received. The service undoubtedly 

 contributes to the stabilizing of production, placing goods in the 

 most favorable markets, and avoiding industrial mistakes that so 

 often result from the trial method in technological processes. 



MACKEREL STATISTICS 



Upon recommendation of the North American Committee on Fish- 

 ery Investigation, representing the Governments of Canada, New- 

 foundland, France, and the United States, the bureau will collect 

 additional statistics on the important mackerel fisheries of the west- 

 ern North Atlantic. The data required are in the nature of con- 

 tinuous statistical records of the sizes of mackerel. It is hoped 'that 

 such data, collected over a period of years, will explain the severe 

 fluctuations in abundance to which this species is subject, and pos- 

 sibly provide a basis for predicting the character and size of the 



