REPORT OF THE DIVISION OF STATISTICS AND METHODS 
OF THE FISHERIES. 
By Hueu M. SMITH, Acting Assistant in Charge, 
The report of the work of this division from July 1, 1892, to June 30, 
1893, is respectfully submitted. Up to September 26, 1892, the division 
was in charge of Capt. J. W. Collins; on that date, however, he was 
relieved from duty, and I was designated as the acting assistant in 
charge, and held that position at the close of the fiscal year. 
On July 31, 1892, the work of the division was seriously affected by 
the indefinite furlough of one field agent, two local agents, and two 
clerks, owing to the reduction of 25 per cent in the appropriations for 
this branch of the Commission. Under the provisions of the act mak- 
ing appropriations for this Commission, permitting the transfer of 10 
per cent of the allotment for general expenses, the Commissioner, by 
November 1, was able to reinstate all the furloughed employés except 
one clerk. The most important drawback occasioned by this tempor- 
ary reduction in the force was the interruption in the work of the local 
agents at Gloucester aid Boston, and the lapse of several months in 
the otherwise continuous records running back for a number of years, 
showing the daily receipts of fish at those important fishing ports. The 
regular field inquiries and the office work were also retarded. 
As in previous years, the force of the division was supplemented and 
the work considerably aided by the temporary detail of persons from 
other divisions. In June, 1893, Mr. E. F. Locke, custodian of the 
Gloucester hatching station, was assigned to field duty in Gloucester 
and vicinity in connection with the investigation of the New England 
fisheries elsewhere alluded to. Mr. A. B. Alexander, fishery expert on 
the Albatross, was detached from the vessel at San Francisco, Cal., in 
February, and entered on shore work for this division in that city and 
vicinity. 
INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 
The field inquiries conducted by the division during this year covered 
an extensive territory maintaining fisheries of great prominence. Some 
features of the work were more important and detailed than had previ- 
ously been provided for. Major inquiries were carried on in the Middle 
Atlantic, New England, and Pacific States, and the local agencies at 
Gloucester and Boston were continued. 
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