REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES XLIII 



and game commission, and the regulations proposed were enacted 

 into law. 



Artificial culture of the diamond-back terrapin, which has been 

 conducted at the Beaufort (N. C.) biological station for a number 

 of years, has definitely passed from the experimental to the 

 practical stage. Although there are yet many problems to be 

 solved in the cultivation of terrapin, methods have been so nearly 

 perfected that a cooperative arrangement with the State of North 

 Carolina has been made, whereby the depleted waters of the State 

 are to be restocked from the breeding pens of the station. The 

 bureau now has on hand 960 adult female terrapins, to which 1.292 

 have been added during the year by the State to form the brood 

 stock. While a large number of the young produced in 1925 were 

 retained for further experimental purposes, 1,800 young were lib- 

 erated in the marshes and 600 remain on hand for later distribution. 

 It is expected that about 4,000 young will be produced by the 

 original brood stock during the laying season of 1926, and that by 

 1927, when the brood stock acquired by the State commission will 

 begin to produce, over 12,000 young terrapin will be reared for 

 distribution. With the five-year closed season on terrapin enacted 

 by the State in 1925, and the increased production of young terrapin 

 by the bureau, it is confidently expected that the terrapin resources 

 of the State will ultimately return to normal. 



OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS 



We have seen thus far that notable progress has been made in the 

 solution of many urgent problems of the fisheries. It can not be 

 assumed, however, that all of the important problems have received 

 attention. The bureau's resources in men and funds are not sufficient 

 to satisfy the many demands for investigations on problems of real 

 importance. Because of the need for national economy it has been 

 necessary to curtail many investigations, and in many cases the 

 initiation of new work has been deferred, to the detriment of the 

 fisheries and the danger of great economic loss. 



It has long been recognized that the shad fisheries of the Atlantic 

 coast are facing slow destruction from overfishing and pollution, yet 

 it is impossible at present to suggest methods of protection. Serious 

 pollution of rivers and harbors is a continuous menace to aquatic 

 life, yet full understanding of the problem and means of relief 

 are still beyond our reach. On the Gulf coast a great shrimp fishery 

 has grown to enormous proportions in the past five years. It is 

 inconceivable that the present rate of development of this fishery can 

 continue without the early depletion of the resource, but little is 

 known of the life and habits of the specie^ or of its ability to with- 

 stand the strain of exploitation. Other important fisheries of the 

 Atlantic coast are suffering rapid decline. The sturgeon already is 

 seriously depleted; the blnefish has shown marked decline in abun- 

 dance; the smelts of the New England coast are greatly reduced in 

 number; lobsters are no longer plentiful; and drastic restriction of 

 the crab fishery is believed to be the only hope of saving it. All 

 of these matters require immediate investigation, for the problem- 



