INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF FISHES 165 



limit the catch of commercial fishes, but the "sportsmen" 

 have provided many state laws for the preservation of the 

 high-class "game" fishes. Nearly every state maintains a 

 fish commission, and many maintain one or more hatcheries 

 for the production of young fishes with which to renew the 

 supply of depleted waters, or to introduce species into new 

 waters. 



In 1871 Professor Spencer F. Baird whose services to 

 his country are now remembered by only a very few persons, 

 and to whom not one worthy monument exists induced 

 Congress to create the United States Fish Commission, for the 

 propagation and distribution of food fishes, and the general 

 preservation of the food-fish supply. In 1902 the annual 

 appropriation for this bureau was $543,120. It was about 

 that time that the title of the Commission was changed to 

 Bureau of Fisheries, and it was placed in the newly created 

 Department of Commerce and Labor. 



The growth of the Fisheries Bureau has kept pace with the 

 increasing importance of its work, and the increase of 50 per 

 cent in the annual value of the fisheries product. For the 

 year 1914 the annual appropriation for maintenance is 

 $1,709,720. In 1902 the total output of the Bureau of eggs 

 and live fish and lobsters was 1,494,543,374 and in 1913 it 

 was 3,863,593,282. This vast output was composed as fol- 

 lows: Eggs, 422,275,873; fry, 3,421,591,295, and fingerlings, 

 yearlings and adults, 19,726,114. 



In view of the very great importance of the governmental 

 efforts to maintain and also increase the supply of valuable 

 food fishes, it becomes us to know what species of fishes are 



