14 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



of larval and postlarval fishes had been figured and described b} r Mrs. 

 Fish, and further study of the collections undoubtedly will reveal 

 many more. 



In connection with the work on tropical larval fishes, it has been 

 possible to identify many of the extensive collection of larval fish 

 slides made for the bureau by the late W. W. Welsh. 



CHESAPEAKE BAY 



The report bearing on the fish and fisheries of Chesapeake Bay, 

 which is being prepared under the direction of Dr. Samuel F. Hilde- 

 brand, assisted by William C. Schroeder, Isaac Ginsburg, and Irving 

 L. Towers, has been virtually completed and will be submitted 

 shortly for publication. A total of 107 salt and brackish water fishes, 

 of which 3 appear to be new, are described and discussed therein. 

 The descriptions in the report, with comparatively few excep- 

 tions, were drawn up directly from specimens. Whenever specimens 

 were not available and descriptions were compiled or copied from 

 published accounts, it was so stated. Keys for families, genera, and 

 species are included. A special effort was made in the discussion to 

 point out the most evident field marks distinguishing the various 

 species. Brief accounts of the food and feeding, spawning and life 

 history, size attained, relative abundance, and commercial importance 

 of each species are included. A considerable number of graphs show- 

 ing the fluctuations and relative abundance over a period of years 

 for several important commercial species also have been prepared. 



NORTH AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS 



Two meetings of the committee were held during the calendar 

 year 1925, one in May and the other in November. The first one 

 was held at New York on May 8, and W. A. Found, A. G. Hunts- 

 man, and J. P. McMurrich, representatives of Canada, and H. B. 

 Bigelow, Henry O'Malley, and Willis H. Rich, representatives of the 

 United States, were present. In addition to these, J. P. Babcock, 

 of British Columbia, N. B. Scofield, of the California Fish and Game 

 Commission, F. W. Wallace, of the Fishing Gazette, New York City, 

 and O. E. Sette, of the Bureau of Fisheries, were in attendance. 



The principal matter under consideration was the planning of 

 proper methods for the collection of statistics of the fisheries on the 

 banks of the western North Atlantic, with particular reference to 

 the mackerel, cod, and haddock. Suggestions were made for improv- 

 ing the present collection of statistics, and a special committee was 

 appointed to consider the details more fully. The program of the 

 United States Bureau of Fisheries in studying problems of the cod 

 fishery, with particular reference to the spawning of the cod in 

 Massachusetts Bay, and the movements of the adults by means of 

 tagging experiments was outlined. The project of tagging mackerel 

 also was discussed, and it was urged that further steps be taken to 

 investigate the Atlantic halibut. 



The second meeting was held at Montreal on November 6, W. A. 

 Found, A. G. Huntsman, and J. P. McMurrich, of Canada, and 

 H. B. Bigelow and O. E. Sette, of the United States being present. 



