FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. if 
Ld . . . . 
Regarding the introduction of fish meal production on the Atlantic 
seaboard, one writes: 
We estimate that the work done by your force in behalf of fish meal increased the 
value of last season’s fish products at this point considerably above $100,000, and 1 
am frank to say that were it not for this new market I do not think it would be possible 
for us to operate our plants this season, owing to the very unsettled conditions in the 
fertilizer trade. 
Of the Bureau’s paper on Preservation of Fish Nets, an authority 
in the net and twine trade states: 
It was a surprise to find it had been possible to prepare such an interesting and 
instructive article, and the author is to be congratulated on his splendid work. 
AID IN IMPROVING FISHING OPERATIONS. 
Activities in this field have been confined mainly to aiding in the 
determination of the value of aircraft for spotting fish, to provision 
for supplying reports from certain lightships and lighthouses regard- 
ing the presence of schooling fish to the trade,.and to studies of con- 
struction and operation of fishing apparatus, the use of which is 
limited. 
FISHERY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. 
The search for fish in the sea is difficult and hazardous. In pro- 
portion to cash returns, the expenditure of time, labor, and materials 
is heavy. Vessels may seek catches of bluefish, mackerel, men- 
haden, or tuna for weeks without appreciable results. A vessel may 
discover good fishing but in the absence of means of communication 
can not advise other relatively near-by vessels operating unsuccess- 
fully of the location of the schools. In a calling conducted under 
such handicaps it is important that use be made of every available 
aid and of every new development of science which promises to 
increase efficiency of operation without danger to the supply of the 
future. 
As early as 1883 the aid of the United States Life Saving Service 
was enlisted by the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries 
in reporting the presence of whales and other cetaceans and rare 
sharks and supplying information regarding them. At various 
times the Bureau’s vessels have been employed in behalf of the fishing 
industry in locating schools of fish sath as mackerel and tuna. In 
1917, the Bureau of Fisheries, with the aid of the Washington-Alaska 
Military Cable and Telegraph System, operated by the War Depart- 
ment, inaugurated an intelligence service to communicate by tele- 
graph to a number of coastal towns in Alaska the current prices of 
certain species of fishes offered at Seattle and Ketchikan. This 
service furnishes at a very small cost information which could not be 
gotten by private individuals without considerable effort and cost 
and is appreciated. Details of this service are to be found in Alaska 
Fisheries and Fur Industries reports of the Bureau for the years 
1917 to.1921. 
USE OF AIRCRAFT. 
In April, 1919, attended by representatives of the New England 
fisheries, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the patrol division of Naval 
Aviation, a conference was held in Washington, D. C., at which 
tentative arrangements were made for a properly qualified observer 
