FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATHS, 1986 261 
STATISTICAL SURVEY PROCEDURE 
In order that those who use the statistical data contained in this 
report and previous reports of the Division of Fishery Industries may 
be informed as to the source of the figures and methods for their 
collection, it has been deemed advisable to outline in considerable 
detail the statistical survey procedure followed by the Division. This 
procedure has been developed over a period of years, and changes 
in method have been made at times where such changes have appeared 
to work toward general improvement. While the surveys in the 
severak sections are not made in the same manner owing to varying 
facilities and records in different States, an attempt has been made 
to make the data collected by various methods in the producing 
areas comparable with respect to the same year as well as over a 
period of years. Throughout the entire plan it has been the inten- 
tion to coordinate State and Federal fishery statistical work so that 
there will be as little duplication of effort as possible. The procedure 
will be discussed under two main heads—‘‘Sectional surveys’’ and 
‘Local and special surveys.”’ 
SECTIONAL SURVEYS 
Statistical surveys of the fisheries and fishery industries of the 
various sections of the United States occupy by far the greatest part 
of the time of the statistical personnel of the Division. It is in the 
course of these surveys that the statistical and marketing agents 
visit the individual fishing localities of the various States to collect 
statistics of the volume of ‘the catch of fish and its value, employment 
in fishing, quantity of fishing gear, number and classification of fishing 
and transporting craft, employment in wholesale and manufacturing 
establishments, and the volume and value of manufactured fishery 
products and byproducts. The various phases of these surveys are 
discussed in detail in the sections following. 
History.—The first comprehensive statistical survey of the fisheries 
and fishery industries of the United States was made for the year 
1880 by George Brown Goode, Assistant Director of the U. S. Na- 
tional Museum and associates, with the cooperation of the Commis- 
sioner of Fisheries and the Superintendent of the Tenth Census. 
Data for specific fisheries or restricted sections for years prior to 
1880 were also collected in this early survey and recorded in Mr. 
Goode’s reports. The survey for 1880, however, did not include the 
Mississippi River and tributaries. Periodic general surveys of a 
limited number of States or limited areas of the United States were 
made for various of the intervening years between 1880 and 1908 
and from 1909 to 1928. In 1908 a survey of the entire United States 
was made. The next general survey of the entire United States was 
not made until 1931 although complete data for all sections excluding 
the Mississippi River and tributaries were collected for 1929 and 
1930 and complete data on the catch and operating units of the 
fisheries were collected for 1932. In the latter survey, however, lack 
of sufficient funds prohibited collection of data on wholesale and 
manufacturing firms except those data collected as a part of the 
canned fishery products and byproducts surveys. Complete general 
canvasses were made of the New England, Middle Atlantic, Chesa- 
peake, and Pacific States for 1933 and 1935, and complete data on the 
