706 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



FOREWORD 



This report constitutes a yearbook on fishery statistics of the United 

 States as well as a summary of activities of the division of fishery 

 industries. As its name indicates, this division of the bureau is 

 concerned with the activities and welfare of the fishery industries, 

 including the commercial fisheries, the trade in fishery products, and 

 the fish canning and preserving industries. Its functions are the 

 collection and publication of fishery statistics, the prosecution of 

 research designed to solve the technical problems of the industry, 

 and the dissemination of authoritative and practical information to 

 the fishery industries and the public. Results of technological 

 investigations and marketing studies are published in separate 

 documents as each project is completed. The information obtained 

 from statistical surveys is published in Part 2 of this report, which 

 includes all the detailed statistical information that has become 

 avaihible since the issuance of the previous report,^ together with 

 such summarized statements and interpretations of the statistics 

 as are deemed significant and useful. In the preparation of this 

 report numerous members of the division's staff have taken part, 

 and their assistance is appreciatively acknowledged. 



Part 1. OPERATIONS OF THE DIVISION 

 COLLECTION OF STATISTICS 



The statistical work of the division in 1929, as in former years, 

 included the collection and dissemination of statistics on the catch 

 of fisheiy products and the gear employed in making the catch and 

 statistics of related fishery industries. In the former group are those 

 statistics that are intended primarily for the use of the fishery biolo- 

 gist, upon which to base wise conservation measures, although they 

 are indirectly valuable for economic purposes. This is especially 

 true of statistics for the landings of fish at principal fishing ports, 

 which are published monthly. In the latter group are statistics 

 that are of use mainly for economic or trade purposes. In this group 

 are included statistics of the canned fishery products and by-products 

 of the United States, cold-storage holdings of fish and amounts of 

 fish frozen in the United States, marine-animal oil production, and 

 similar statistics. 



During 1929 rapid progress was made in the collection of statistics 

 of the catch of fishery products in the United States. This has been 

 occasioned by greater cooperation with State fishery agencies and 

 by the extended use of automobiles by agents, which has enabled them 

 to canvass a larger territory than was formerly the case when travel 

 was performed mainly by train. As a result, catch statistics for 1928 

 were obtained of the fisheries in our New England, South Atlantic, 

 Gulf, Pacific Coast, and Great Lakes States. Continuous annual 

 catch statistics are now available for the Great Lakes States from 1913, 

 Pacific Coast States from 1922, South Atlantic and Gulf States from 

 1927, New England States starting with 1928 (as it is now planned 

 to canvass the latter States annually), and the State of Connecticut 



» Fishery Industries of the United States, 1928. By R. H. Fiedler, Appendix IX to the Report of the 

 U. S. Commi.'-sioner of Fisheries for 1929, pp. 401-625. Bureau of Fisheries Document No. 1067. 



