UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION". 



793 



fishes would be of little importance, and that 

 conclusions, to be really useful, must rest upon 

 a broad foundation of purely scientific investi- 

 gation. The life-history of species of economic 

 value should, of course, be understood from 

 beginning to end, but no less requisite is it to 

 know the histories of the animals and plants 

 upon which they feed or upon which their 

 food is nourished; to know the histories of 

 their enemies and friends, and the friends and 

 foes of their enemies and friends, as well as 

 the currents, temperatures, and other physical 

 phenomena of the waters in relation to migra- 

 tion, reproduction, and growth. 



2. The investigation of the methods of fish- 

 eries, past and present, and the statistics of 

 production and commerce of fishery products. 

 Fishery methods and apparatus must be exam- 

 ined and compared with those of other lands, 

 that the use of those which threaten the de- 

 struction of useful species may be discouraged, 

 and that those which are inadequate may be 

 replaced by others more serviceable. Statistics 

 of industry and trade must be secured for the 

 use of Congress in making treaties or imposing 

 tariffs, also to show to producers the best mar- 

 kets, and to consumers from what source and 

 wherewithal their needs may be supplied. 



neighbors. The propagation of fish is at pres- 

 ent by far the most extensive branch of the 

 work of the commission, both in respect to the 

 number of men employed and the money ap- 

 propriated. 



Since the oldest and most important fishery 

 industries center in New England, the coast of 

 this district must be the seat of the most active 

 operations in marine research. For thirteen 

 years the commissioner, with a party of spe- 

 cialists, has devoted the summer season to work 

 at various stations along the coast from North 

 Carolina to Nova Scotia. The routine of work 

 is usually as follows : A suitable place having 

 been selected, a temporary laboratory is fitted 

 up with the necessary appliances for collection 

 and study. In this are placed tables, often at 

 headquarters as many as thirty, each occupied 

 by an investigator, either an officer of the 

 commission or a volunteer. 



The work at a summer station includes all 

 the various forms of activity known to natural- 

 ists: collecting along the shore, seining upon 

 the beaches, setting traps for animals not other- 

 wise to be obtained, and scraping with dredge 

 and trawl the bottom of the sea at depths as 

 great as can be reached by a steamer in a trip 

 of several days. In the laboratory are carried 



SECTION OP STEAMER FISH-HAWK. 



3. The introduction and multiplication of 

 useful food-fishes throughout the country, es- 

 pecially in waters under the jurisdiction of the 

 General Government, or those common to sev- 

 eral States, none of which would undertake to 

 make expenditures for the benefit of their 



on the usual structural and systematic studies, 

 the preparation of museum specimens and of 

 reports. 



The permanent headquarters are now at 

 Wood's Holl, Mass., where wharves are being 

 built for the accommodation of the fleet of the 



