REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 87 



rary dredging steamer Speedwell in 1879, which led to his being selected 

 by Professor Baird to supervise the planning and construction, hrst, 

 of the steamer Fish Hawk, and, later, of the steamer Albatross, each of 

 which he commanded in succession. The exceptional advantages 

 afforded by these two vessels for marine investigations have, through 

 liis energetic and appreciative cooperation, been utilized to the greatest 

 possible extent, the appliances for research have been developed and 

 perfected to a degree not elsewhere approached, and the results accom- 

 plished in the lines both of fishery and of deep-sea exploration have 

 greatly surpassed those by any other nation. After an experience of 

 nine years on the Atlantic coast, during which Ins work extended from 

 Newfoundland to South America, he was especially qualified to enter 

 the comparatively unknown region of the North Pacific Ocean and 

 Bering Sea, with which his name will ever remain associated as the 

 earliest practical exponent of its fishing- grounds and fishery resources. 

 Commander Tanner has in course of preparation an important paper 

 descriptive of the methods of investigation employed on board the 

 Albatross and of the history of their development. 



JOINT INVESTIGATION OF FISHERIES IN WATERS CONTIGUOUS 

 TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES. 



On December 6, 1892, an agreement was entered into between Great 

 Britain and the United States for the investigation, by a joint commis- 

 sion of two experts, of the fisheries prosecuted in the territorial and 

 contiguous waters of Canada and the United States, with the object 

 of determining the regulations, practices, and restrictions proper to be 

 adopted in concert for their preservation. The provisions of this 

 agreement, the subjects and territory comprised within the scope of 

 the inquiry, and the work accomplished to the end of the fiscal year 

 1892-93 were explained in the last annual report. At the close of that 

 year the two representatives, Dr. William Wakeham on the part of 

 Great Britain and Mr. Richard Rathbun on the part of the United 

 States, were at Eastport, Me., having made a rapid reconnoissance of 

 the mackerel fishery northward from New York City. Mr. R.Venning, 

 of the department of marine and fisheries of Canada, accompanied Dr. 

 Wakeham until July 8, and Dr. Hugh M. Smith, of the United States 

 Fish Commission, acted in conjunction with Mr. Rathbun until July 21. 



During a large part of July the Commission was engaged in investi- 

 gating the mackerel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, having the use for 

 that purpose of the Canadian fishery cruiser Acadia, Capt. O. G. V. 

 Spain commanding, by which means all the principal fishing centers 

 were visited in rapid succession, the movements and spawning habits 

 of the fish being studied, and many fishermen interrogated respecting 

 the abundance of the species and condition of the fishery. Returning 

 again to Eastport, Me., a temporary laboratory was established there to 

 provide the means for studying the marine and especially the herring 

 fisheries of Passamaquoddy Bay and adjacent waters. The Fish Hawk 

 was detailed to the region to assist in the work, which was carried on 



