\1V REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES 



pounds, valued at $1,255,689. The decline in the Oregon fisheries is 

 less severe than that in the AVashington fisheries. The number of 

 persons engaged therein Avas somewhat lower in 1922 than in 1915, 

 the investment was slightly higher, and the value of products was 

 lower. 



INQUIRY RESPECTING FOOD FISHES 

 INTRODUCTION 



The investigations conducted by the division of scientific inquiry 

 are designed to produce information that may be made use of in the 

 conservation and development of our various fishery resources. For 

 several years past a definite effort has been made to develop these in- 

 vestigations along the lines of greatest practical value, and it is felt 

 that increased progress has been shown during the past year. Coin- 

 cident therewith Ras been an awakening of the public to the neces- 

 sity for adequate care of our fishery resources and to the importance 

 of properly planned and executed biological investigations on which 

 to base measures of conservation. 



This greater appreciation of the necessity for conserving our 

 fisheries has undoubtedly been brought about by the serious deple- 

 tion of some of the most important of them. The sturgeon have 

 all but disappeared from both coastal and inland waters ; the salmon 

 of the Atlantic coast have been entirely exterminated in many 

 streams, and in others only a small remnant of the former runs re- 

 mains; in certain streams on the Pacific coast the salmon are much 

 reduced; the halibut on both coasts have been distinctly reduced in 

 numbers, unquestionably as a result of overfishing; the shad and 

 nuillet of the east coast and the whitefishes and related forms of 

 the Great Lakes have been affected; and the production of oysters 

 is much reduced. Many other examples of depletion might be cited, 

 but these will suffice to show the seriousness of the situation. 



The reasons for the depletion are different in each of these cases. 

 In some the condition may be ascribed definitely to overfishing, but 

 in others the increasing pollution of coastal and inland waters is 

 equally if not more to blame. Dams and other obstructions erected 

 in the rivers reduce the areas available for spawning, and thousands 

 of young fish are lost annually through unscreened irrigation ditches. 

 Pollution, dams, and irrigation ditches are the results of the in- 

 creased industrialization of the country, a process which is still far 

 from having reached its height, and unless adequate remedies are 

 provided in the very near future many of our fisheries will go 

 to their commercial destruction. In addition to these factors there 

 must be considered the constantly increasing demand of a growing 

 population for the products of the commercial fisheries and for 

 a greater supply of game fish. 



The result of all these forces has been to put a strain upon our 

 fishery resources which will require the best efforts of all concerned 

 to overcome. Aquatic resources such as these may, if properly 

 used, be made perpetual, but measures for their care must be based 

 upon a broad knowledge of the many factors that tend to cut down 

 or increase the abundance of the various species of fish involved. 

 The object to be sought for is the utilization of the fisheries to the 

 fullest extent compatible with their maintenance. Just what the 



