INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



The following report on the condition of the commercial fisheries of 

 the Gulf States is based upon a canvass of the region made in 1898, 

 the information relating to the year 1897. Condensed information on 

 this subject has already been made public in Statistical Bulletin No. 8, 

 Fisheries of the Gulf States, single-sheet statistical bulletins relating 

 to the condition of the fisheries usually being prepared upon the comple- 

 tion of field work and distributed in advance of full reports appearing 

 in the regular publications of the Commission. 



The report has been prepared under the direction of Mr. C. H. Town- 

 send, assistant in charge of the Division of Fisheries. 



The agents of the division participating in the field investigations 

 were: Messrs. Charles H. Stevenson, in Texas and Louisiana; Ansley 

 Hall, in Mississippi and Alabama, and John N. Cobb, in western Flor- 

 ida. The agents were familiar with the fields allotted to them, having 

 at some previous time canvassed the fisheries of the same States. In 

 addition to the purely statistical matter, they have furnished explana- 

 tory notes, which have been inserted under the proper headings. 



The preparation of the extensive series of tables has been chiefly in 

 the hands of Mr. S. Le R. Pritchard. 



George M. Bowers, 

 U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 

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