CXXXVI REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



tliat puts the oi'tiee in ])osili()n to fully and ])n)ni])tly comply with the 

 demands that are continually nmde upon it for information con- 

 ceiuing the fisheries; so general and comprehensive have been the field 

 inquiries prosecuted, that there are few i)hascs of the commercial fish- 

 eries, or few questions that can be propounded regarding them, that are 

 not covered by the oftice records. 



The principal subjects that come up for notice in this report are: A 

 history of the scope and conduct of the field investigations undertaken 

 in 1891-1)2; a review of the results of those investigations; an account 

 of the rei)orts published by the division during the year; relations 

 with the Eleventh Census; a consideration of the prominent events con- 

 nected with the commercial fisheries, including the present conditions 

 of the principal branches of the industry, experiments with new^ types 

 of apparatus, international questions relating to the fisheries, etc.; and 

 recommendations for the future conduct of the work of the division. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF THE STATISTICS AND METHODS OF THE 



FISHERIES. 



In planning for the field investigations to be undertaken by the divi- 

 sion in 1891-02, the determining consideration in the selection of the 

 regions to be canvassed was the date of the last inquiries in the sev- 

 eral sections of the country. The fisheries of the New England and 

 Pacific States had been studied in 1889, and those of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States in 1890 and 1891; but no investigation of the Great 

 Lakes had been made since 1885, and the Middle Atlantic States had 

 not been covered since 1888. It was in these regions, therefore, that it 

 was decided to place the field force, although there were other consider- 

 ations, in addition to time, that prompted the selection of these sections. 

 A minor inquiry was also made in Albemarle Sound and some of its 

 tributaries, in North Carolina, and the regular investigations here- 

 tofore carried on by local agents at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., were 

 continued. 



THE GREAT LAKES. 



When, in 1885, the Fish Commission conducted a comprehensive 

 inquiry into the fisheries of the Great Lakes, it was found that the 

 industry was in a flourishing condition, and the yield was probably 

 greater than in any previous year. The results of that investigation 

 were embodied in a report,* to which recourse should be had for a 

 detailed account of the history, methods, and statistics of these fisheries. 

 In 1891 the time Avas thought to be opi)ortune for another canvass of 

 this region, which was accordingly undertaken in the first half of the 

 fiscal year. Messrs. W. A. Wilcox and T. M. Cogswell were assigned 

 to Lake Superior; Ansley Hall, E. E. Race, and H. P. Parker to Lake 



* Review of the Fisheries of the Great LalceH in 1885. Compiled hy Hugh M. Smith 

 and Merwin-Marie Snell. With iutroductiou and description of fishing vessels and 

 boats hy J. W. Collins. 



