XXIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



with reference to the latter are considered : (A) Location ; (B) Topog- 

 raphy; (C) Depth of water; (D) Character of bottom; (E) Tempera- 

 ture of water; (F) Currents, and (G) Character of invertebrate life, &c. 



III. — The fishermen and fishing toicns. 



Here are considered the coast districts engaged in the fisheries with 

 reference to their relation to the fisheries, historically and statistically, 

 and the social, vital, and other statistics relating to the fishermen. 



IV. — Apparatus and methods of capture. 



Here are considered all the forms of apparatus used by fishermen, 

 boats, nets, traps, harpoons, &c, and the methods employed in the 

 various branches of the fishery. Here each special kind of fishery, of 

 which there are more than fifty in the United States, is considered sep- 

 arately with regard to its methods, its history, and its statistics. 



V. — Products of fisheries. 



Under this head are studied the statistics of the yield of American 

 fisheries, past and present. 



VI. — Preparation, care of, and manufacture of fishery prod-nets. 



Here are considered the methods and the various devices for utilizing 

 fish after they are caught, with statistics of capital and men employed, 

 &c. : (A) Preservation of live fish; (B) Eefrigeration ; (C) Sun-drying; 

 (D) Smoke-drying; (E) Pickling; (F) Hermetically canning ; (G) Fur 

 dressing; (H) Whalebone preparation; (I) Isinglass manufacture; (K) 

 Ambergris manufacture; (L) Fish guano manufacture, and (M) Oil ren- 

 dering, &c. 



vn. — Economy of the fisheries. 



Here are studied (A) Financial organization and methods; (B) Insur- 

 ance; (C) Labor and capital; (D) Markets and market prices; (E) 

 Lines of traffic, and (F) Exports, imports, and duties. 



Vin. — Protection and culture. 



This includes all kinds of supervision by the government, such as : 

 (A) Legislation ; (B) Bounties and licenses; (C) Fishery treaties, and 

 (D) Public fish culture. 



The various inquiries provided for in this scheme of investigation 

 have been made in three ways : 



(I.) By correspondence with persons in different parts of the country. 



(II.) By a systematic overhauling and compilation of past records, 

 not the least among which are the local newspapers. 



(III.) By sending special agents to make personal inquiries in every 

 part of the United States where the fisheries are of considerable impor- 

 tance. 



