2 TJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



of oysters, have become barren, and sturgeon and other useful fishes 

 disappear. Many of our fisheries bid fair to become merely his- 

 torical records. 



It is notable, too, that when a serious diminution in land crops 

 threatens there is almost invariably a prompt and compelling de- 

 mand for the application of methods of scientific research to the 

 study of causes and remedies. Appropriations and personnel are 

 made available, so that serious. losses maj- not continue indefinitely 

 for lack of the services of skilled investigators or for want of proper 

 equipment for attack upon the problems involved. On the other hand, 

 the disappearance of useful aquatic resources has rarely awakened 

 an effective public interest, and only a small and frequently 

 changing personnel with very limited equipment is permitted to 

 confront the complicated problems that concern a hundred different 

 resources of seas, lakes, and rivers. While a diminution in the yield 

 of corn becomes a cause for action, a decline in production of shad 

 remains a topic for conversation. 



This is not to say that the exhaustion of fishery resources is in- 

 evitable or that the decline of fisheries has not in some instances 

 been arrested or retarded. In many cases, though not in all, effec- 

 tive results have been gained by the application of measures of 

 production and propagation as far as has been permitted by the 

 knowledge available and by the public will. Investigations pursued 

 in the past have yielded a certain fund of knowledge regarding 

 propagation, habits, and conditions of life of fishes, and upon such 

 knowledge is based both the fish culture that is so extensively pur- 

 sued in the United States and the great body of sound protective 

 measures wherever in effect. Were the fund of knowledge greater, 

 artificial propagation would be more successful and economical and 

 would no doubt be effectively extended to other species, while pro- 

 tective legislation would be more wisely framed and more successful 

 in the accomplishment of its purpose. 



Never, perhaps, has there been greater demand for the application 

 of knowledge regarding fishes- to practical ends for the public good, 

 while yet there is no proportionate demand for the discovery of the 

 knowledge that can be given application. 



During the past year the bureau has endeavored to apply its lim- 

 ited resources to the problems of the fishes in the most effective 

 manner, having regarcl inevitably to the qualifications and experi- 

 ence of its available personnel and to the limited funds and equip- 

 ment. The story of the progress and accomplishments in biological 

 investigations is told in the following pages. 



STUDIES OF FISHES. 



ALASKA SALOMON IN^^:STTGATI0NS. 



Prof. Charles H. Gilbert and Henry O'Malley conducted exten- 

 sive studies of the runs of salmon in the southeast and central dis- 

 tricts of Alaska. Special attention was given to the salmon of 

 Kodiak Island, where a rack had been constructed in Karluk River 

 early in the season and the counting of red salmon ascending the 

 stream was being carried on. It was reported that up to Septem- 



