FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1935 81 



ECONOMIC ASPECT 



With the fishery conserved and trends and yields of the fishery 

 predicted there still remains the problem of supplying the fishery 

 trade with the information so essential to the conduct of its business 

 activities. In these days of increasing competition the very existence 

 of the fishery industry must depend upon reliable economic statis- 

 tical information. Such material has been especially valuable during 

 the past few years, when it has been used in national planning. The 

 Bureau, therefore, aims to make its statistical survey so complete 

 that the industry and the various governmental organizations may 

 turn to it for reliable fishery statistics. 



SURVEYS CONDUCTED 



The statistical surveys during 1935 were conducted under the 

 direction of Fred F. Johnson, Assistant Chief of the Division, aided 

 by E. A. Power, assistant statistician. 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 employment and compensation of 

 those engaged in, and 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 1934. 

 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 fisliing vessels at 

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

 Seattle, Wash, (published monthly) ; landings of halibut at North 

 Pacific coast ports (published montlily); 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 

 Agricultural Economics (published monthly): production, consump- 

 tion, and holdings of marine-animal oils of the United States and 

 Alaska (published quarterly by the Bureau of the Census); produc- 

 tion 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: H. F. Brown, W. H. 

 Brown (deceased), F. F. Dimick, Y\ . II. Dumont, R. L. Greer, V. E. 

 Hetfelfmger, B. E. Lindgren, W. H. Rich, V. J. Samson, C. B. Tendick, 

 and A. S. Young. 



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. 



