REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 



1. — INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



During tne period of time covered by this report the work of tlie 

 United States Fish Commission was under the direction of Prof. Spencer 

 F. Baird. In consequence of his declining health and the pressure of ad- 

 ministrative duties as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as well 

 as Commissioner of Fisheries, the preparation of a report proper to 

 accompany the various reports and papers constituting the appendix 

 was preveTited. 



The following digest of the operations of the year, which has been 

 prepared from data compiled mainly by Mr. C. W. Smile}*, editor, for 

 the convenience of the Commissioner in the preparation of his annual 

 report, aims to present briefly, from an impersonal standpoint, the prin- 

 cipal features of interest in connection with the work accomplished. 



The personality of the distinguished naturalist who founded the 

 United States Fish Commission, and under whose wise and broad ad- 

 ministration it has grown to be the custodian and conservator of one of 

 our most important food resources is, however, fitly represented by his 

 important posthumous paper on the sea fisheries of eastern !N~orth 

 America, which appears in the appendix. This monograph, after some 

 introductory account of the fisheries, follows with a list of the food and 

 bait fishes and invertebrates, together with biographical notices of the 

 most important species. The food and the reproduction of the sea 

 fishes, their migrations and movements, numbers and abundance, and 

 the dangers and fatalities to which they are subject from enemies in the 

 sea, from man, and through physical causes or changes are discussed 

 at length. The important fishing grounds are described in detail, as 

 well as the apparatus of capture, from the primitive bow and arrow to 

 the elaborate nets and pounds of the present time. The various kinds 

 of bait, the methods of preserving fish and bait, and the disposition of 

 offal are considered. The statistics of the value of the American 

 fisheries are given, and followed by a review of the economical ap- 

 plications of the products of the fisheries as food for man and animals, 

 and for use in the arts and industries in the form of oils, fertilizers, 

 medicines, etc. The maintenance and improvement of the fisheries by 

 legislation, artificial propagation, and the transfer of species from one 

 region to another are subjects which receive the attention warranted 

 by their importance. 



