FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 19 3 7 155 



freshness of fish, and other methods developed by our technologists, to 

 his studies for the State of California. 



Our technologists continued their active cooperation, during the 

 past year, with the Minnesota and Virginia State Departments of 

 Markets in connection with the extension and improvement of State 

 marketing grades for fishery products sold in those States. In Vir- 

 ginia one of the Bureau's technologists assisted the State inspector in 

 preparing grades for herring roe, discussed in detail elsewhere in this 

 report. 



In the conduct of its statistical research work, the Bureau obtains 

 unusual cooperation from various States. The statistical surveys of 

 the fisheries in the various States bordering on the Great Lakes, in 

 the Pacific Coast States, and in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware 

 have been greatly facilitated by the cooperation obtained from the 

 fishery agencies in these States. With this aid it is now only neces- 

 sary for the Bureau to conduct partial surveys in these States to sup- 

 plement the data available from the fishery agencies. 



In addition, in nearly every other State where commercial fishing 

 is prosecuted, some type of cooperation in its statistical work is 

 rendered the Bureau by the State fishery agencies or other organiza- 

 tions. This makes it possible for the Bureau to make statistical sur- 

 veys of a greater portion of our fishery industries than otherwise 

 would be possible. 



COOPERATION WITH FISHERY ADVISORY COMMITTEE 



Members of the staff of the Division worked very closely during the 

 3^ear with the Fishery Advisory Committee of the Business Advisory 

 Council for the Department of Commerce. This work took its princi- 

 pal form in the planning of demonstrations and preparation of in- 

 formative material for the meeting of the Committee in Washing- 

 ton, D. C, on January 21 and 22, 1938. 



As a part of the program arranged for the members of the Com- 

 mittee, the Division gave numerous demonstrations of its work. 

 These included an historical review and discussion of current trends 

 of our commercial fisheries, by the Chief of the Division, with the use 

 of a specially prepared series of charts. The modern methods em- 

 ployed by the Bureau in preparing the large volume of fishery statistics 

 which are collected and disseminated by the Bureau were demon- 

 strated and explained by E. A. Power. Demonstrations of teclmo- 

 logical studies included an experimental method for the canning of 

 the blue crab by N. D. Jarvis; the electrometric method for determin- 

 ing the freshness of fish, by J. M. Lemon and M. E. Stansby; a new 

 method of treating fish by "controlled smoke" to obtain a uniform 

 product, by W. T. Conn; experiments looking toward reduction of 

 bacteria in fish by use of ultraviolet rays, by J. F. Puncochar; and 

 methods for protein analysis of fish, by S. R. Pottinger. Recent 

 studies relating to the food value of fish, and especially pointing out 

 the large reserves of vitamins, proteins, and essential minerals con- 

 tained in seafood, were discussed by J. R. Manning and others of the 

 teclmological staff. These discussions were concerned with nutri- 

 tional studies on fish oils, by C. F. Lee; fish proteins, by W. B. Lanham; 

 and minerals in fishery products, by Hugo Nilson. 



The Division also aided extensively in the planning of the seafood 

 dinner held at the Mayflower Hotel on January 21, 1938, by members 



