REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES XXVII 



It is quite obvious that the general trend of public sentiment is 

 toward greater conservation of all natural resources, and a realiza- 

 tion of the importance of fish culture is one of the most interesting 

 phases of this. An organization of national renown has adopted for 

 its slogan " Plant the bass " and has built up a membership of 

 approximately half a million persons. Numerous other organiza- 

 tions are making a close study of fisheries problems and are extending 

 all possible aid to the bureau in an effort to secure better results in 

 the stocking of public waters. It is believed that these organized 

 bodies of men and women will be able to accomplish a great deal 

 more in this direction than can be expected from individual effort, 

 as the interest of the individual is more apt to be confined to securing 

 fish merely for personal use, while that of the organization is for the 

 general good. 



In the course of the past year the bureau has received several 

 hundred letters from clubs and associations requesting information 

 as to how existing facilities might' be utilized in the production of 

 fish on a cooperative basis. The bureau has given material assist- 

 ance in the establishment of as many projects of this kind as it could, 

 and in practically every instance the association aided is now pro- 

 ducing fish under Government supervision with the purpose of 

 distributing the output as large fingerling fish during the fall 

 months. This cooperative work will be extended as rapidly as the 

 bureau's facilities will permit. 



The future welfare of the commercial fisheries has not been of as 

 much concern as the stocking of interior waters with game fishes. 

 This is undoubtedly due to the manner in which this industry is 

 conducted. Making as large a catch as possible for the market is 

 the primary object of the commercial fishermen, and such matters 

 as the conservation of eggs and immature fish for the purpose of 

 maintaining the supply are commonly regarded as of minor im- 

 portance. For this reason it is highly important that the Federal 

 Government extend its fish-cultural activities to include the com- 

 mercial species. 



With that object in view spawn takers have been sent to the 

 various fields where the commercially important fishes are captured 

 to take the ripe spawn of the market fish and transfer it to the 

 hatcheries for incubation. In this way immense numbers of valu- 

 able eggs have been saved which would otherwise have been lost in 

 dressing the fish for the market. 



The work of planting on the spawning grounds on Georges Bank, 

 off the New England coast, the fertilized eggs of cod and haddock 

 taken in that field by the fishing fleet from Gloucester, Mass., which 

 was instituted a few years ago, has been extended so far as facilities 

 permit. Operations of the same character have been successfully 

 undertaken in connection with the propagation of buffalofish in 

 Louisiana and at certain points along the upper Mississippi River, 

 also, where ripe fish are taken for the markets at points too remote 

 from a hatchery to permit of the successful transportation of the 

 eggs. 



The fish-cultural methods employed by the bureau during the 

 fiscal year 1925 were in the main along previously established lines. 

 Appropriations have not been adequate for making needed improve- 

 ments at some stations and have lowered the efficiency of other sta- 



