6 FISHERY INDUSTRIES- OF THE UNITED STATES. 



liglitships and lighthouses. In addition, information regarding the 

 construction and operation of lesser known fisliing gear and methods 

 has been obtained for the use of the fisheries. The need for improve- 

 ments in the methods of handling, distributing, and marketing of 

 fishery products has been felt, and improvements, such as the exer- 

 cise of greater care in handling fish by eliminating the use of pitch- 

 forks, the avoidance of needless bruising of the fish, and the adoption 

 of some form of precooling on the vessels, has been urged upon the 

 producers. Much assistance has been given producers in the securing 

 and transporting of materials such as salt, barrels, etc., which were 

 required for immediate use in preserving fish in abundance. 



In the field of fisheries technology practical application has been 

 made of methods developed in the course of its fish-salting investi- 

 gations, and studies have been made and reports prepared on the 

 preservation of fish nets and methods of determining the fatness of 

 certain fishes. The investigations of the problems of the commer- 

 cial fish canner have been continued at San Pedro, Calif. The Bureau 

 has continued its efforts to stimulate the saving of waste products of 

 the fisheries and their conversion into marketable commodities with 

 excellent success. The production of fish meal and fish leather, the 

 saving of such articles as shark fins, and the utilization of fish scales 

 have materially increased. 



The statistical activities of the division have included the collec- 

 tion of detailed statistics of the vessel fisheries centering at Boston 

 and Gloucester, Mass., Portland, Me., and Seattle, Wash., and the 

 publication of the results in m.onthly and annual bulletins; and 

 canvasses of the shad fishery of the Pludson River, of the shad and 

 ale^vife fishery of the Potomac River, and of the Maine sardine 

 industry, all for the calendar year 1920. A canvass of the fisheries 

 of the ISTew England States for the calendar year 1919 was under- 

 taken and the field work completed about March 1, 1921. The 

 results of these canvasses are contained in the present report, together 

 with the detailed tables of the canvass of the fisheries of the South 

 Atlantic States for 1918, a summary of the storage holdings of frozen 

 fish during 1920, and the cjuantity of fishery products by species and 

 by months for California m 1920. The report also contains statis- 

 tical data on the production of fish oils, scrap, and meal, a summary 

 of the fisheries ot both coasts of Florida in 1918, a summary of the 

 fisheries of the Gulf States for various years, certain sponge statis- 

 tics, etc. 



SERVICE. 



• Units of the Federal Government such as this division receive an 

 appropriation for the rendering of service. It is usually difficult to 

 ascertain on a monetary basis the value of the service rendered, and 

 the organization is not infrequently criticized as not rendering 

 service in proportion to the facilities supplied for its work or through 

 misunderstanding of its limitations. It may therefore be of interest 

 to refer to the appreciation expressed by competent persons of the 

 value of several phases of its work. 



Of the Bureau's new method of salting fish, a practical demonstra- 

 tion of which was given on the St. Johns River, Fla., one writer 

 states : 



We consider the information and the demonstration worth thousands of dollars to 

 us alone, not saying what it is worth to the industry at large on the St. Johns River. 



