REPORT OF THE DIVISION OF STATISTICS AND METHODS 

 OF THE FISHERIES. 



By Hugh M. Smith, Acting Assistant in Charge. 



The report of the work of this division from July 1, 1S02-, to June 30, 

 1893, is respectfully submitted. Up to September 26, 1892, the division 

 was in charge of Capt. J. W. Collins; on that date, however, he was 

 relieved from duty, and I was designated as the acting assistant in 

 charge, and held that position at the close of the fiscal year. 



On July 31, 1892, the work of the division was seriously affected by 

 the indefinite furlough of one field agent, two local agents, and two 

 clerks, owing to the reduction of 25 per cent in the api^ropriations for 

 this branch of the Commission. Under the provisions of the act mak- 

 ing appropriations for this Commission, permitting the transfer of 10 

 per cent of the allotment for general expenses, the Commissioner, by 

 November 1, was able to reinstate all the furloughed emi)loy6s except 

 one clerk. The most important drawback occasioned by this tempor- 

 ary reduction in the force was the interruption in the work of the local 

 agents at Gloucester ainl Boston, and the lapse of several months in 

 the otherwise continuous records running back for a number of years, 

 showing the daily receipts of fish at those important fishing ports. The 

 regular field inqundes and the ofl&ce work were also retarded. 



As in j)revious years, the force of the division was supplemented and 

 the work considerably aided by the temporary detail of x)ersons from 

 other divisions. In June, 1893, Mr. E. F. Locke, custodian of the 

 Gloucester hatching station, was assigned to field duty in Gloucester 

 and vicinity in connection with the investigation of the New England 

 fisheries elsewhere alluded to. Mr. A. B. Alexander, fishery expert on 

 the Albatross, was detached from the vessel at San Francisco, Cal., in 

 February, and entered on shore Avork for this division in that city and 

 vicinity. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 



The field inquiries conducted by the division during this year covered 

 an extensive territory maintaining fisheries of great ju'ominence. Some 

 features of tlie work were more important and detailed than had previ- 

 ously been i)rovided for. Major inquiries Avere carried on in the Middle 

 Atlantic, New England, and J'acific States, and the local agencies at 

 Gloucester and Boston were continued. 

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