34 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



data for the regulations required by the treaty between the United 

 States and Great Britain, signed April 11, 1908, which provides for 

 the joint control by the United States and Canada of the fisheries 

 in the waters contiguous to the boundary between the two countries. 

 Field work was conducted in Passamaquoddy Bay and eastern Maine 

 and on Lake Erie and Lake Huron. 



There is every reason to believe that both of these international 

 questions, which have long been a source of irritation to the fishermen 

 of the countries involved, will be satisfactorily adjusted during the 

 present year. 



EMPLOYMENT OF VESSELS. 



The investigation concerning the aquatic resources of the Philip- 

 pine Islands was continued by the steamer Albatross until February 

 12, when she went to Nagasaki for a general overhauling before 

 undertaking the voyage to the United States. She arrived at San 

 Francisco in excellent condition May 4, and was promptly made 

 ready for immediate work in Alaskan waters. While the vessel under- 

 went considerable repairs in Hongkong the year before, these were 

 necessitated by work previous to the Philippine expedition and the 

 fact that she returned to San Francisco in such good condition after 

 a cruise beginning in 1907 reflects credit on the construction of the 

 vessel and the care given by her commanding officers. 



The steamer Fish Hawk was occupied from the beginning of the 

 fiscal year until the middle of September in a comprehensive survey 

 of the public oyster grounds of Virginia in the James River, and 

 afterwards in collecting aquarium specimens. In October the ship 

 went to Woods Hole, where her machinery was put in good order by 

 the station force and the crew and the vessel made ready for further 

 work. In the spring, shad hatching on the Delaware River was be- 

 gun and continued until June, when a survey of the public oyster 

 grounds of Delaware was commenced and at the close of the year was 

 still in progress. Fuller references to the surveys mentioned are 

 embodied elsewhere in this report. 



The schooner Grampus was engaged in the mackerel investigation 

 referred to elsewhere until October 10, 1909, her sphere of operations 

 extending from Newport to Bay of Islands, Newfoundland, and the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, and including the offshore fishing banks. 

 During the late fall and winter the vessel was laid up and the crew 

 utilized in connection with marine fish-cultural work on the New 

 England coast until April, when she was made ready for sea and 

 began the collection of lobster eggs and distribution of lobster fry 

 for the hatchery at Boothbay Harbor, Me., and was so engaged the 

 remainder of the year. 



The smaller steamer Phalarope was used during the entire year 

 in fish-cultural work on the New England coast and on the Potomac 



