94 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



the fish foods used by commercial hatcheries, since they were avail- 

 able at about one-third the cost of meat and dairy products. 



The oyster and oyster industry. — A popular publication on oysters 

 was prepared by the Bureau during the fiscal year. It covered such 

 salient factors as the biology of the oyster, methods of capture and 

 handling, its food value, and recipes for preparing it for the table. 



Cooperative marketing. — Under authority of an act authorizing 

 associations of producers of aquatic products, approved June 25, 

 1934, a cooperative marketing unit was established in the Bureau of 

 Fisheries in October 1935. This unit has conducted studies on the 

 prevalence of fishery cooperatives in the country, State legislation 

 pertaining to such associations, the nature and extent of existing 

 fishery cooperatives, and cooperative activities in foreign countries. 

 A publication outlining the methods for organizing and incorporat- 

 ing fishery cooperative marketing associations also was prepared for 

 dissemination to interested parties. 



STATISTICAL INVESTIGATIONS 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, CALENDAR YEAR, 1934 



New Englavd States. — No complete statistical survey of the com- 

 mercial fisheries of this area was made for 1934. The total landings 

 of fish, however, by American fishing vessels at Boston and 

 Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Maine, amounted to 299,916,000 

 pounds, valued at $7,882,000 — an increase of 18 percent in volume 

 and 21 percent in value, as compared with the preceding year. 



Middle Atlantic States. — No complete survey was made in this 

 area for 1934. A survey made of the shad fishery of the Hudson 

 River for 1934 showed 322 fishermen engaged and a catch of 438,000 

 pounds of shad, valued at $36,000 — a decrease of 16 percent in volume 

 and 12 percent in value as compared with 1933. 



Chesapeake Bay States. — During 1934 the commercial fisheries of 

 Maryland and Virginia employed 20,591 fishermen. Their catch 

 amounted to 289,011,000 pounds, valued at $5,943,000 — an increase 

 of 6 percent in volume and 17 percent in value as compared with 

 the previous year. The shad and alewife fisheries of the Potomac 

 River were prosecuted bv 564 fishermen, who caught 567,000 pounds 

 of shad, valued at $48,000, and 2,028,000 pounds of alewives, valued 

 at $16,000. 



South Atlantic and Gulf States. — The commercial fisheries of 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis- 

 sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas during 1934 employed 24,898 fisher- 

 men. Their catch amounted to 447,914,000 pounds, valued at $9,- 

 994,000 — an increase of 49 percent in volume and 55 percent in value 

 as compared with 1932 which is the most recent previous year for 

 which a survey was made in this section. 



Pacific Coast States. — The commercial fisheries of Washington, 

 Oregon, and California in 1934 employed 19,232 fishermen. Their 

 catch amounted to 1,. 546,102 ,000 pounds, valued at $19,950,000— an 

 increase of 80 percent in volume and 43 percent in value, as com- 

 pared with 1933. The total catch of halibut by United States and 

 Canadian vessels amounted to 46,018,000 pounds, valued at $2- 



