6 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



considerable more assurance than (liirin<i: the preceding year. Re- 

 ductions in transportation rates also have an important bearing on 

 the situation. 



The bureau has endeavored to render the industry all possible aid 

 in coping with the difficulties encountered during this period, par- 

 ticularly along practical lines in merchandising and i)reservation 

 of fishery products. Its trained personnel has given freely of its 

 time in supplying suggestions and advice to those in the industry 

 and in collecting for their use needful information covering prac- 

 tically every phase of the fishing industry. Its activities have in- 

 cluded a series of highly A'alued market surveys of the following 

 centers: Louisville, Ky., Pittsburgh, Pa., Chicago, 111., Minneapolis 

 and St. Paul, Minn., and Seattle, Wash. In the field of statistics, 

 canvasses have been made of the fisheries of Maryland and Vir- 

 ginia for 1920, including the catch of shad and alewives in those 

 States in 1921, and of the canning and by-products industries of 

 the United States and Alaska in 1921, in addition to those of the 

 landings of the vessel fisheries at the ports of Boston and Glou- 

 cester, Mass., Portland, Me., and Seattle, Wash., and statistical 

 bulletins of cold-storage holdings of fr(jzen fish have been issued 

 monthly, beginning with the returns for January 15, 1922. 



Fisheries technological investigations have included comprehen- 

 sive investigations in net preservation, studies of refrigeration, in- 

 cluding the freezing of fish in brine, and scientific studies of the 

 principles involved in the processes of canning such fish as sardines. 



FISH MPJRCIIANDISING. 



The field of fish merchandising affords many opportunities for 

 helpful service to which the bureau is giving a larger measure of 

 attention. The need for such service is reflected in the low per 

 capita consumption of fish in this country, in the difficulties en- 

 countered by the producers in finding outlets for their catch of 

 fish with existing equipment of capture, and in the low prices re- 

 ceived by them for the products of their labor. The producers are 

 fully aware of the need of effecting improvements in the distribu- 

 tion of fresh and frozen fish as indicated by the interest shown in 

 precooling of fish in brine, and in preparing the fish for the con- 

 venience of the housewife, as by filleting and by wrapping the in- 

 dividual fish in parchment paper. 



MARKET SURVEYS. 



Market surveys of certain large distributing centers for fresh 

 and frozen fish, 'initiated in June, 1921, at Louisville, Ky., were con- 

 tinued through the greater part of the year by surveys of Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa., Chicago, 111., Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., and 

 Seattle, Wash., the results of Avhich have been published as Economic 

 Circulars Nos. 52, 54, 55, and Document No. 930, respectively. 



The supply of fresh and frozen fishei'v products reaching Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa., IS derived chiefly from the (Ireat Lakes, the west coast 

 from Seattle to Prince Rupert, and the Atlantic coast from New 

 York to Boston. Halibut from the l*acific coast is the most im- 

 portant single species sold in Pittsburgh. Other species of im- 

 portance, whirh with halibut constitute about 75 per cent of the 



