80 Thirl y-iiiiitli Aiuinal Mac ling 



like similar bureaus abroad, tlie general statistical clearinji;- 

 house of the go^•ernnle^t. 



Recent legislation limits the decennial work of the census 

 to three general topics, namely, population, agriculture, and 

 manufactures, leaving for the intermediate period — for the 

 se\en intercensal }'ears — many si)ecial subjects of inquir\-, 

 j)rominent an]ong \\hich is a decennial census of the hsh- 

 eries, which was si)ecially authorized by act of Congress of 

 June 7, 1906. 



In \iew of the fact that in the employ nf the Bureau of 

 Fisheries were a number of men well informed in this special 

 field, a i)lan of co-operation between the t\\'(j bureaus was 

 authorized and arranged for this decennial census. A fur- 

 ther object of this co-operation was to a^'oid a duplicate can- 

 \'ass in a ])ortion of the countr}- and to insure uniformit\- in 

 the statistical work of the two bureaus. 



This co-operative work affords an excellent illustration of 

 the relationship which doubtless will ultimateh- be established 

 between the Census and the \-arious technical bureaus of the 

 go\-einment. and is another e\-i(lence of the ad\-antages which 

 spring from the establishment of the permanent Census 

 Office. 



Mention should be made of the very creditable statistical 

 work being done by several of the States through the fish 

 commission boards and other organizations. Michigan, 

 Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, 

 Oregon and several other States collect more or less statisti- 

 cal data. It is hoped to extend the co-operati\'e work of the 

 census of the fisheries to these organizations. 



In scope this census applies to the commercial fisheries 

 onl}'. that is, all fishing operations conducted for ])rofit — for 

 the sale of the catch; but it does not include the operations 

 of indi\iduals catching fish for their own consumption or 

 for sport. It co\-ers, in addition to all s])ecies of fish pro])er, 

 such products as whales, seals, turtles, shell fish, and sponges, 

 and likewise the pearl fisheries. 



