FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UXITED STATES, 19 3 7 169 



in national planning. The Bureau, therefore, aims to make its statis- 

 tical surveys so complete that the industry and the various govern- 

 mental organizations may turn to it for reliable fishery statistics. 



SURVEYS CONDUCTED 



The statistical surveys during 1937 were conducted under the 

 immediate supervision of Edward A. Power, assistant statistician, and 

 the general direction of Fred F. Johnson, Assistant Chief of the Divi- 

 sion. These surveys included the collection and dissemination of 

 statistics of the commercial catch and its value, operating units, and 

 employment in the fisheries. In addition, data were collected on em- 

 ployment and compensation of those engaged in the fisheries as well as 

 products of fishery wholesale and manufacturing establishments. 



As previously mentioned, limited funds made it impossible to cover 

 all the fishing areas of the country during the past year for 1936. 

 However, the following areas were surveyed: Chesapeake States, 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States, Pacific Coast States, and Lake States. 

 Statistics of the fisheries of Alaska also were collected by the Alaska 

 Division of the Bureau. Summaries of the production in those 

 sections which were not surveyed during the year are included for the 

 most recent years available in part 2 of this report. 



In addition to the above, statistics were collected on the following 

 special phases: The landings of fish by American fishing vessels at 

 the ports of Boston and Gloucester, Mass., Portland, Maine, and 

 Seattle, Wash, (published monthly); catch of mackerel in the North 

 Atlantic fishery; cold-storage holdings of frozen and cured fish and 

 amount of fish frozen, which are furnished by the Bureau of Agricul- 

 tural Economics (published monthly) ; production, consumption, and 

 holdings of marine-animal oils of the United States and Alaska (pub- 

 lished quarterly by the Bureau of the Census) ; production of canned 

 fishery products and byproducts of the United States and Alaska; 

 transactions on the sponge exchange at Tarpon Springs, Fla. ; volume 

 of fishery products handled at the Municipal Fish Wharf and Market, 

 Washington, D. C. ; and the volume of the United States foreign trade 

 in fishery products, furnished by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 

 Commerce. 



The following statistical and marketing agents assisted in the col- 

 lection and compilation of the statistical data: S. C. Denham, F. F. 

 Dimick, W. H. Dumont, R. L. Greer, Wm. Hagen, Jr., V. E. Heff el- 

 finger, H. J. Kumin, B. E. Lindgren, C. J. Robbins, V. J. Samson, 

 C. B. Tendick, and J. L. Whitcomb. 



The reader is especially referred to the section in the latter part of 

 this report entitled "Statistical Survey Procedure," which gives in 

 detail the methods employed in the collection of fishery statistics and 

 other pertinent information. 



FISHERY MARKET NEWS SERVICE 



It is history that seasonal gluts and famines of fishery commodities 

 in our markets have frequently resulted in disastrous financial losses 

 to the fishery industries and much economic waste to the nation. 

 Likewise, experience has shown that such conditions have been largely 

 the result of inadequate market information available to producers, 

 middlemen, and other interested parties. If there is to be economy 



