330 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



STATISTICAL SURVEY PROCEDURE 



In order that those who use the statistical data contained in this 

 report and previous reports of the Division of Fishery Industries may 

 be informed as to the source of the figures and methods for their col- 

 lection, it has been deemed advisable to outline in considerable 

 detail the statistical survey procedure followed by the Division. This 

 procedure has been developed over a period of years, and changes 

 in method have been made at times where such changes have ap- 

 peared to work toward general improvement. While the surveys 

 in the several sections are not made in the same manner owing to 

 varying facilities and records in different States, an attempt has 

 been made to make the data collected by the various methods in the 

 producing areas comparable with respect to the same year as well 

 as over a period of years. Throughout the entire plan it has been 

 the intention to coordinate State and Federal fishery statistical 

 work so that there will be as little duplication of effort as possible. 

 The procedure will be discussed under two main heads — "Sectional 

 surveys" and "Local and special surveys." 



SECTIONAL SURVEYS 



Statistical surveys of the fisheries and fishery industries of the 

 various sections of the United States occupy by far the greatest part 

 of the time of the statistical personnel of the Division. It is in the 

 course of these surveys that the statistical and marketing agents 

 visit the individual fishing localities of the various States to collect 

 statistics of the volume of the catch of fish and its value, employment 

 in fishing, quantity of fishing gear, number and classification of fish- 

 ing and transporting craft, employment in wholesale and manufac- 

 turing establishments, and the volume and value of manufactured 

 fishery products and byproducts. The various phases of these 

 surveys are discussed in detail in the sections following. 



History. — The first comprehensive statistical survey of the fisheries 

 and fishery industries of the United States was made for the year 

 1880 by George Brown Goode, Assistant Director of the United 

 States National Museum and associates, with the cooperation of the 

 Commissioner of Fisheries and the Superintendent of the Tenth 

 Census. Data for specific fisheries or restricted sections for years 

 prior to 1880 were also collected in this early survey and recorded in 

 Mr. Goode's reports. The survey for 1880, however, did not include 

 the Mississippi River and tributaries. Periodic general surveys of a 

 limited number of States or limited areas of the United States 

 were made for various of the intervening years between 1880 and 1908 

 and from 1909 to 1928. In 1908 a survey of the entire United 

 States was made. The next general survey of the entire United 

 States was not made until 1931 although complete data for all sec- 

 tions excluding the Mississippi River and tributaries were collected 

 for 1929 and 1930 and complete data on the catch and operatmg units 

 of the fisheries were collected for 1932. In the latter survey, how- 

 ever, lack of sufficient funds prohibited collection of data on whole- 

 sale and manufacturing firms except those data collected as a part of 

 the canned fishery products and byproducts surveys. A complete 

 general canvass was made of the New England, Middle Atlantic, 

 Chesapeake, and Pacific States for 1933, and a similar canvass was 



