g2 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



FISHEBY ADVISORY COMMITTEE 



During the past fiscal year tlie Fisliery Advisory Committee for 

 the Secretary of Commerce held meetings in the Commerce Depart- 

 ment Buildiiig, Washington, D. C, on October 21 and 22, 1935, and 

 January 13 and 14, 1936. These were under the chairmanship ot 

 E B. McGovern, vice Bernarr Macfadden, resigned. 



Both of the meetings Avere well attended by the members ot the 

 committee and others, who have been appointed from various 

 branches of the fishery industry and related interests, including 

 science, medicine, and transportation. The purpose of the committee 

 is to (rive detailed consideration to the problems of the industry from 

 a mutual standpoint and to offer recommendations for the promotion 

 and development of the general welfare of the fishery industry. 



The committee was especially active in promoting desirable _l^ed- 

 eral legislation to aid the industry along the line of market and eco- 

 nomic research, and in conservation, and trade-practice matters, ihe 

 work of the committee undoubtedly was largely instrumental m hav- 

 ma- Congress ratify the sockeye-salmon treaty with Canada which 

 ha*s been pending for several years, and which gives promise ot re- 

 storing to former abundance the great sockeye-salmon fishery in the 

 waters contiguous to the State of Washington and British Columbia. 



PROTECTION OF SALMON IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER 



The Columbia Kiver supports one of the most important salmon 

 fisheries on the Pacific coast. Owing to the intensive fishing near 

 the mouth of the river and in adjacent areas at sea, the increase of 

 agriculture and forestry, -and the impending industrial development 

 of the region, these valuable fisheries are being menaced by new con- 

 ditions inimical to natural propagation of the fish. Hence the pres^er- 

 vation of the fishery depends upon careful management, and the 

 coordination of various demands on the Columbia waters to ad] ust 

 the conflicting requirements. Complete management of the Colum- 

 bia Kiver fisheries includes (1) the regulation of the commercial 

 fishery to permit adequate escapement of spawning fish, (2) the as- 

 surance of free access to their natural spawning areas, (3) the re- 

 habitation by natural or artificial propagation or transplantation 

 of formerly "productive spawning areas, (4) the exclusion of poUn- 

 tion from nursery areas, and (5) the assurance of free return of the 

 young to the sea without loss from irrigation works or hydroelectric 



A comprehensive investigation of these various fields, started 2 

 years ago, involves a statistical study of the annual and seasonal 

 fluctuation in the abundance of the important species of fish con- 

 tributing to the commercial fisheries. Records since 1897 have been 

 made available through the cooperation of the commercial fishery 

 interests on the river, and these have been tabulated and partially 

 nnalyzed during the year to provide evidence of suspected depletion 

 of certain elements of the fish population. 



A comprehensive program of stream survey has been continued, 

 contributing information on (1) the total area of present and past 

 spawning grounds in each tributary, (2) the location of areas novj 

 available, (3) the location of former spawning areas now destroyed 



