FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1925 203 



The fishing industry made definite plans for carrying on a national 

 campaign to increase the consumption of fish. This should bring 

 about valuable changes, as a good part of their efforts are to be 

 expended in improving technological practices. 



SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS 

 STATISTICS 



Monthly and annual statistics were collected and published regu- 

 larly during 1925, as follows: The collection and monthly publica- 

 tion of the statistics of the landings of fish by vessels at the ports of 

 Boston and Gloucester, Mass. ; Portland, Me. ; and Seattle, Wash. ; 

 with publication of annual bulletins summarizing these landings for 

 the year; monthly publication of statistics on the cold-storage hold- 

 ings of fish collected by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 

 Department of Agriculture; collection of the statistics of quarterly 

 production, consumption, and holdings of oils in the fishery indus- 

 tries for the use of the Bureau of the Census; collection and publi- 

 cation of the statistics on the production of canned fishery products 

 and by-products of the United States and Alaska for 1925; collection 

 of statistics on the shad and alewife fishery of the Potomac River 

 for 1925; collection of statistics of the shad fishery of the Hudson 

 River for 1923 and 1924; and the securing of statistics on the quan- 

 tities and value of sponges handled by the Tarpon Springs Sponge 

 Exchange. 



General statistics on the fisheries of the Gulf States for 1923, 

 which were collected during 1924, were compiled during the past 

 year and published in summary form. A complete and detailed 

 account is contained in this report. The fisheries of the New Eng- 

 land States were canvassed and compiled for 1924 and are included 

 in this report. 



With the completion of the above-mentioned statistics the follow- 

 ing geographical sections will have been canvassed for the years 

 indicated : New England States, 1924; New York, New Jersey,, Penn- 

 svlvania, and Delaware, 1921; Maryland and Virginia, 1920; South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States, 1923; Pacific Coast States, 1922; Great 

 Lakes and Mississippi River and tributaries, 1922. 



The system used in collecting statistics for various geographic sec- 

 tions at intervals of several years is unsatisfactory, especially from 

 the standpoint of the fishery conservationist and administrator. 

 Some fisheries are particularly subject to extraordinary fluctuations. 

 The catch of a single species in one year may be double that in the 

 next, and with statistics available only at intervals of about five 

 years it is exceedingly improbable that they depict the true nature 

 of the trend. If in one survey an unusually productive year be 

 chanced upon and if about five years later a poor year be encountered, 

 it would look as though the fishery were in an alarming condition. 

 If, on the contrary, the first survey was made in a poor year and the 

 next one in a good year, the reverse would be true. As a matter of 

 fact neither conclusion would be correct. Of course, over a long- 

 period of time — say, 30 years — a progressive decline would be 

 reflected in the periodic statistics; but in a relatively short period — 

 say, a decade — only annual statistics could truthfully show the trend 

 in the yield of the fisheries. Unless a decline in catch were detected 



