SIXTKENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25 



ready out will be published. These will describe in detail the 

 fisheries of all the more important fishing towns, the history, 

 methods and present extent of each of the special fisheries ; the 

 characteristics of the fishermen bothat home and at sea, the char- 

 acter, extent and location of the principal fishing grounds, the 

 apparatus of the fisheries, and in addition will give an exhaus- 

 tive statistical review of the fishery industries oi the country. 



But these reports will picture the fisheries as they were in 1880, 

 and if they are to be available for present use, they must be kept 

 up to date. With the desire to keep abreast with any changes 

 that might take place, Professor Baird has frequently, since that 

 time, sent out committees for the investigation of special subjects. 

 It has been my privilege to be on several of these committees of 

 investigation, and I have found how comparatively easy it is for 

 one, even though a stranger to the locality, to get control of the 

 details of the fisheries of any village or stretch of coast. From 

 my experience I have been convinced that it would be entirely 

 practicable for the Commissioners of several States to familiar- 

 ize themselves with the changes that are taking place within 

 their own borders, and to collect from year to year full and com- 

 plete statistics of the fish caught in the territory under their con- 

 trol, and to publish these for the information of the public in 

 their annual reports. 



I have been much pleased to see in the States of Michigan and 

 Wisconsin a very commendable effort in this direction. 1 think 

 the Commissioners of both of these States have so familiarized 

 themselves with the details of the fisheries in their own waters 

 and with the influence of each kind of apparatus of capture, that 

 they will be better able to cope with the problem of legislation 

 than the Commissioners of other States, and also to show more 

 clearly the influence of their fish-cultural operations upon the 

 yield of the commercial fisheries. Any one who has heard the 

 conflicting statements of the fishermen when summoned to give 

 evidence regarding proper legislation for the protecti(jn (jf the 

 fisheries, cannot fail to appreciate the importance of a fidl 

 knowledge of all important details. In the Great Lake fisher- 

 ies the gill net and pound net fishermen are at sword points ; one 

 claiming that the other is using the most destructive apparatus 



