II REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES 



Commercial fisheries and fishery industries — Continued. Pnga. 



Shad and alewife fisheries of the Potomac River xxx 



Florida sponge fishery xxxi 



Fisheries of the Gulf States xxxi 



Fisheries of New England xxxi 



Biological investigations xxxn 



Progress in fishery research xxxn 



Advisory committee on scientific investigations xxxiv 



Atlantic coast fisheries xxxiv 



Oyster investigations xxxviii 



Pacific coast fisheries xxxix 



Fisheries of interior waters xl 



Investigation of shellfish and terrapin xlii 



Outstanding problems xliii 



Vessel service notes xliv 



Disposal of the Fish Hawk and acquisition of the Albatross II xliv 



Appropriations xlvi 



Department of Commerce, 



Bureau of Fisheries, 



Washington, July i, 1,926, 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the major 

 operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1926. 



The past year has been noteworthy for the progress made in all 

 phases of the fisheries and for the effectiveness of the bureau's 

 work. As a result, greater appreciation of the bureau's helpfulness 

 and demands for a much larger measure of service have been noted. 

 Unusual interest has been shown in the development of the science 

 of aquiculture ; in the conduct of fisheries investigations as the basis 

 for proper legislation and control; in expanding the present scale 

 of fish propagation for stocking waters; in making provision for 

 annual inventories of the fisheries to reveal their trend and the 

 need for further protection or expansion; in the conduct of tech- 

 nological investigations to effect additional improvements in the 

 use and merchandising of fishery products; in insuring the perpe- 

 tuity of the Alaska salmon fisheries; and in solving fisheries prob- 

 lems international in character. Our commercial fisheries are in 

 a more prosperous condition, and the progressive leaders are taking 

 advantage of this state of affairs to make greater progress in stabi- 

 lizing the industry and in making the products of our fisheries 

 available to a greater number of people. Credit is due the bureau's 

 personnel in meeting the exacting and growing demands for serv- 

 ice. Without thorough application and a considerable measure of 

 overtime work much of this could not have been accomplished. 



INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES CONVENTIONS 



NORTHERN PACIFIC HALIBUT CONVENTION 



Under the terms of a " Convention between the United States and 

 Great Britain for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the 

 Northern Pacific Ocean, Including Bering Sea," exchange of rati- 

 fications being concurred in at Washington on October 21, 1924, 

 the following articles were agreed upon : 



