REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES XI 



SESQUICENTENNIAL EXHIBITION AT PHILADELPHIA 



A joint resolution of Congress (Pub. Kes. No. 62 — 68th Cong.) 

 approved March 3, 1925, provided for the cooperation of the United 

 States in the Sesquicentennial Exhibition commemorating- the sign- 

 ing of the Declaration of Independence. From the funds assigned 

 to the Department of Commerce the bureau was given an allotment 

 of $7,500, and floor space in the Palace of Transportation, 50 by 60 

 feet, was assigned from space set apart for the exhibit of the 

 department. 



In so far as practicable, the activities of the bureau have been pre- 

 sented in an attractive manner. A set of 24 colored transparencies 

 in a specially designed case is used for portraying the work of each 

 division. Special exhibits include the following: Fishing tackle 

 (two cases), nutrition of fish and shellfish, by-products (menhaden), 

 shark and shark leather, artificial pearls and other products using 

 fish-scale essence, oyster investigations, destructiveness of shipworms, 

 models of food fishes and fishing vessels, oceanographic equipment, 

 fur-seal and fox skins, balanced aquaria, hatching troughs, and a 

 pool. 



REBUILDING VESSEL SERVICE 



In recent years the bureau has been prevented from carrying on 

 investigations at sea and from providing a proper Alaskan patrol 

 because of antiquated or inadequate vessels. Among the obsolete 

 vessels that have been put out of commission are the Albatross 

 (built in 1883), Fish Hawk (built in 1879), and Halcyon. For 

 Atlantic coast work the bureau has obtained from the Navy Depart- 

 ment the ocean tug Patuxent, renamed Albatross II. This vessel, 

 built in 1909, is well adapted for oceanographic research on the high 

 seas and will make it possible to take up such problems as the study 

 of the western Atlantic fishing grounds, which has been delayed 

 because of the inadequacy of the older vessels. The Brant, a new 

 vessel 100 feet long, powered with a 225-horsepower full Diesel en- 

 gine, represents an important addition to the Alaska patrol fleet. 



AQUICULTURE 



The development of aquiculture as an auxiliary source of food 

 •is becoming recognized as of highly potential importance. Involved 

 in this science of increasing the productiveness of water areas are 

 questions of climate, hydrography, recreation, reclamation, and 

 others. We should be able to determine whether a given area is 

 more valuable for water crops than if reclaimed and used for agri- 

 culture. We need to know to what water -crops a given area is best 

 suited and how to produce the maximum output of which that 

 area is capable. In this country the science of agriculture is highly 

 specialized, while but little attention has been given to the science 

 of aquiculture in comparison with that given in European coun- 

 tries. Sufficient progress has been made to warrant the belief that, 

 on the average, an acre of water may produce as much protein food 

 as an acre of land. 



