100 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES, 
fish are in from 60 to 65 fathoms of water. Tilefish are not particular 
as to the kind and quality of bait offered them. While squid, blue- 
backs, menhaden, clams, etc., are very acceptable, they will bite 
freely on inferior kinds of bait, making the bait question compara- 
tively easy to solve. 
The fishery has proved a great deal more remunerative than was at 
first expected by most fishermen and is now considered by them as 
being well established. The prices received by the fishermen have at 
times been as high as 7 cents a pound and as low as 14 cents, the 
average being about 5 cents. The fish bears shipment perhaps better 
than any other staple fish of the Atlantic coast and now reaches con- 
sumers all over the eastern half of the country. Some large ship- 
ments have gone as far west as Kansas City. The catch in recent 
months has been at the rate of 20,000,000 pounds per annum. 
Following long consideration and sink discussion, the present 
Congress has passed an act, approved June 21, 1916, which provides 
a way of alleviating the losses sustained by the fishermen, more 
especially those of the Atlantic coast, from the ravages of dogfishes. 
The act carries an appropriation of $25,000 to enable the Commis- 
sioner of Fisheries to conduct investigations and experiments to this 
end, and the method of procedure, as recommended by the Bureau 
and understood by Congress, is to make the dogfishes useful. Mistaken 
economic and biological conceptions as to the possibility of bringin 
about the extermination of dogfishes have been abandoned, an all 
persons now interested in the welfare of the fishermen and the ad- 
vancement of the fisheries are united in the efforts that will be made, 
under authority of law, to convert an injurious and hitherto useless 
article into a valuable asset. While the dogfishes and other sharks 
yield by-products, such as oil, gelatin, and leather, of undoubted 
economic importance, their principal utility comes through their 
known value as food. The task before the Bureau is to overcome the 
deep-seated prejudice that exists against these fishes and to determine 
the ways and means for creating a demand for fresh and preserved 
dogfish that will react on the fishermen and enable them to market 
their catch at a profit. 
ALASKA FISHERIES SERVICE. 
EXTENT OF THE ALASKAN FISHERIES. 
The enormous fishing industry in Alaska over which the Bureau 
exercises administrative jurisdiction was in some respects more 
extensive in the calendar year 1915 than ever before. e number 
of persons engaged in all branches was 22,462, an increase of more 
than 1,200 over 1914; the investment was $37,316,560, an increase of 
upward of a quarter of a million dollars over the previous year; and 
the value of the output as placed on the market was $20,999,343, a 
decrease of nearly a quarter of a million dollars compared with 1914, 
which year registered the highest value attained by the industry. 
The quantity of fishery products taken in 1915 was greater than in 
any previous season, but lower prices prevailed for several grades of 
salmon taken in large numbers. 
The salmons continue to overshadow all other fishes in Alaska, and 
the industry they support represents 86 per cent of the capital 
