CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



151 



the National Museum in making up the proposed ex- 

 hibition by the United States. 



SEC. 3. That the United States Commissioner of 

 Fish and Fisheries he, and is hereby, instructed to 

 present to Congress, through the Department of State, 

 a report upon the Berlin Exhibition, showing the re- 

 cent progress and present condition of the fisheries 

 and of fish culture in foreign countries. 



Mr. Morton : " Mr. Chairman, at first glance 

 a proposition to expend money on an interna- 

 tional fishery exhibition at Berlin is likely to 

 be viewed with indifference. This indifference 

 to our fisheries and to these exhibitions has 

 existed for years, and was never more manifest 

 than now. 



"Other countries do not look upon fisheries 

 as we do. One of these international exhibi- 

 tions was held at Bergen, Norway, in 1865, at 

 which the fish of all the great countries and 

 many of the lesser ones were well represented. 

 Insignificant Bavaria sent 69 contributions; 

 Great Britain, 174; Sweden, 368; and Hol- 

 land, 435. How many came from this coun- 

 try? One! Another exhibition was held in 

 France in 1866, and our fish were not pre- 

 sented at all. 



"The French Government has given so mucli 

 material aid to this business of fish-culture that 

 nearly all her waste waters have been turned 

 into nests for the propagation of fish. One of 

 the earliest and most extensive establishments 

 for the culture of fish is that erected by France 

 at Huningen, which went into operation in 

 1852, and in six months had artificially fecun- 

 dated three million eggs and produced sixteen 

 hundred thousand living fish. 



" In view of the possibilities of our shores, 

 our measureless streams, and our inland seas, 

 we should lead all nations in the world in 

 availing ourselves of every item of information 

 on a subject of such importance to our people 

 and their industries. The annual value of sal- 

 mon alone in Ireland is now about $2,500,000, 

 while in this country it averages from thirty 

 to forty cents a pound. The oyster-beds in 

 Virginia alone cover an area of about seven- 

 teen hundred thousand acres, containing about 

 eight hundred millions of bushels. The fol- 

 lowing are a few figures showing the compara- 

 tive production and consumption of fish by the 

 leading nations in the world : 



"The United States exported in 1874 about 

 twenty-two hundred thousand dollars worth. 



"It appears from this statement that in 1874 

 Norway and France, each smaller than some 

 of our States, produced respectively one-third 

 more fish than the United States. In 1862 the 

 tonnage of American ships engaged in the sea- 

 fisheries amounted to 204,197, in 1874 it had 

 fallen to 78,290 tons. 



"In the report of the United States Fish 

 Commissioner for 1877 there is a description of 

 a fish of most excellent quality found on the 

 American coast. It existed in great numbers, 

 and yet was unknown to our fishermen for 

 the reason that they were not acquainted with 

 the apparatus of European fishermen. This 

 should teach us how important it is for us to 

 be familiar with those improvements and meth- 

 ods which prevail in the Old World. 



"In the fish-trade in 1865, Norway had a 

 balance of trade in her favor of $12,588,975. 

 Why was this? Because she resorted to fish 

 production as it is proposed the United States 

 should do. In this connection the United States 

 Fish Commissioner again says: 



" Norway is the only European nation that has a 

 scientific commission occupied officially in the super- 

 vision of the fisheries, and in devising methods by 

 which they may be carried on and extended with the 

 least possible waste. To the labors and observation 

 of such men as Dr. Boeck, Professor Sars, and others, 

 is due much of the present efficiency of the Norwegian 

 fisheries. 



" Mr. Chairman, I now call attention to some 

 of the results which have been achieved by the 

 United States Fish Commission since its crea- 

 tion in 1872, in respect to which it is safe to 

 assert that the United States is in advance of 

 foreign nations in the methods and machinery 

 of the fisheries ; in the use of better equipped 

 vessels, some steam and some under sail, a large 

 fleet being now employed continually on the 

 coast and off the coast ; in the use of greatly 

 improved means of taking fish, especially the 

 replacing of the hook and line by means of 

 labor-saving nets, and particularly by the purse- 

 seine, by which a thousand barrels of fish are 

 frequently taken at one haul, instead of depend- 

 ing upon the capture of the fish one at a time. 



" In catching mackerel, the United States first 

 used a line with a baited hook dragged along 

 the surface of the water, the vessel being under 

 sail. Sometimes the baited hook was sent be- 

 low the surface, the vessel being either under 

 gentle sail or anchored. Here only such fish 

 were taken as happened to be in the vicinity of 

 the vessel. Next, the vessel was anchored or 

 hove to, and the mackerel brought up to the 

 boat by means of a lure consisting of finely- 

 chopped fish, thrown overboard, thus attracting 

 the schools from a distance sometimes of sev- 

 eral miles. Next, seines or nets of various 

 forms of construction were introduced, and last 

 of all the purse-seines for fishing in deep water 

 were employed, which surrounded the fish and 

 captured an entire school at one operation. 

 The use of similar seines in connection with 

 specially constructed steamers, in the capture 

 of the moss-bunker or menhaden and the con- 

 version of the fish into valuable oil and manure 

 in costly establishments, either floating or on 

 shore, is peculiar to the United States. 



" Another peculiar American feature in the 

 capture of sea-fish is the use of the so-called 

 dory, a boat from sixteen to twenty-two feet in 

 length, and much lighter and more secure at 



