FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 5 
Fishenes of the New England States in 1919—Continued. Page. 
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Wholesale fishery UPA ats eae es ARAN OF, OS 180 
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Wholesale fishery trade and menhaden industry.........-.........-.- 187 
INTRODUCTION. 
During the period of the war the production and consumption of 
fishery products were stimulated, receiving much encouragement 
from governmental and other agencies as a war measure. This 
resulted in making provision for a considerable expansion of facili- 
ties for the capture, preservation, and marketing of fishery products, 
the fulfillment of which extended into the postwar period. In this 
readjustment period a heavy decline in the consumption of fish not 
only in the United States but in other countries has been apparent. 
Added to this advancing prices of labor and materials, curtailment 
in export trade, and other factors, such as labor difficulties, produced 
in some respects one of the most difficult and threatening situations 
in the history of the industry. Kven in 1919, while provisions for 
greater production were being fulfilled, the effects of these condi- 
tions were felt and the curtailment in production in certain of our 
important fisheries as compared with the previous year was quite 
marked. For example, many of the large New England trawlers 
were tied up for tack of markets. The catch of the vessel fisheries 
centering at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., in 
1919 decreased more than 9,000,000 pounds as compared with 1918 
and in 1920 there was a further decrease in excess of 16,000,000 
pounds. The packs of salmon and sardines were materially cur- 
tailed in 1920, and increasing difficulty has been experienced in 
marketing such fish as groupers on the Gulf coast, considerable 
quantities being dumped for lack of markets. 
These conditions have compelled a much closer, more serious 
study of the economic situation. As a result there has been an 
unusually heavy demand upon the Bureau for statistical and tech- 
nological data, the conduct of investigations which promise improve- 
- ment in practices and economies of operation, aid in stimulating the 
consumption of fish, and the extension of the use of fishery products 
in the arts and industries. Although the reduction in the casi 
appropriation for the fiscal year 1921 to $7,500 has compelled the 
practical abandonment of technological research for the current fiscal 
year, an effort has been made to render the industry the fullest 
possible measure of service for its betterment and the benefit of the 
consuming public. 
SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS. 
For effecting improvements and economies in the methods of con- 
ducting the fisheries, arrangements were perfected by the Bureau 
for an extended trial of seaplanes to determine their commercial 
value as an adjunct to the fisheries, and a fishery intelligence service 
was initiated in New England for supplying information as to the 
presence of schooling fish in the vicinity of advantageously located 
