1 42 BRITISH FISHERIES 



Congress." The resolution provided for the 

 establishment of a Commissionership, stipulating 

 that the person appointed to this office should 

 be of recognised scientific attainments, and should 

 have a knowledge of the natural history of the 

 animals forming the objects of the fisheries. 

 He was also to be a civil officer of the Govern- 

 ment, but, on being appointed Commissioner, 

 should receive no additional salary. There was 

 only one person at the time possessing these 

 qualifications, and Professor Spencer Baird, then 

 assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 became the first Fish Commissioner. 



The work of the Commission has three 

 sections : 



1. The systematic examination of the marine 

 and fresh-water fishery areas of the United States, 

 with reference both to biological and physical 

 problems ; systematic zoological and general 

 biological research ; collection of specimens of the 

 national marine and fresh-water faunas for museum 

 purposes and for research. 



2. Practical fisheries investigation the collec- 

 tion of commercial fishery statistics, with a view to 

 ascertaining the extent of man's interference with 

 the marketable faunas of the seas, rivers, and lakes, 

 and with a view also to the development of com- 

 mercial fisheries, to the construction of treaties and 

 tariffs, and to finding the best markets for producers 

 and consumers ; and the study of fishing methods 



