THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL INSTITUTION 



FOR THE TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 



OF FISHERFOLK. 



By Hugh M. Smith, 

 United States Commissioner of Fisheries. 



(Read by Dr. Geo. W. Field.) ^ 



Herewith are presented some memoranda regarding 

 the need of an institution, national in its scope, in which 

 American fisherfolk may receive technical instruction 

 in matters affecting not only their own material interests 

 but also the welfare of the state and nation, through 

 conservation of aquatic resources and improvement of 

 methods of taking, handling, preserving, and utilizing 

 water products. 



One person in every 80 in the United States is directly 

 dependent on the fishing industry, and yet in the entire 

 country there is not a single university, college, academy 

 or school where even the rudiments of an education in 

 fishery technique may be obtained, either gratis or on the 

 payment of tuition fees. Agricultural schools or oppor- 

 tunities for technical instruction in agriculture exist 

 everywhere; but the fishing population is neglected by 

 both state and federal governments, and private inter- 

 est has not yet come to the aid of a most deserving and 

 important part of our population. Education and in- 

 struction in the practical affairs of fishing and the de- 

 pendent industries are quite as essential for the highest 

 success and best results as in any other industry; and 

 in some respects, growing out of changed economic and 

 biologic conditions, technical instruction in this branch' 

 in the United States is of greater importance than in 

 any other industry that deals directly with natural 

 products. 



This need of the fishing population for technical in- 

 struction in matters that are of vital consequence to them 

 is recognized in various other countries (Ireland, France, 

 Japan) where professional schools have been established 



