American Fisheries Society 81 



In accordance with the i;cneral ])]an llie census oi the iish- 

 eries was inaugurated in I'Y'ljruary of the present year. 

 A1x)Ut 40 expert employees, skilled in statistical incjuiries, in- 

 cluding 4 from the Bureau of I^'isheries, were assigned to 

 ditferent parts of the countr}' wherever commercial fisheries 

 are ])resented, on the interior ri\ers and lakes as well as on 

 the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts, the Gulf of Mexico and 

 the Great Lakes, covering not less than 30,000 miles of shore 

 line. These agents were pr()\'ide(l witli a])pro])riate schedules 

 to be filled out and signed as far as ])racticable b}' each person 

 conducting independent fishing operations. At i)resent the 

 field work is nearly at an end, re])resenting an average of 

 about 4 months wcjrk for each of the men employed, or on a 

 basis of 160 months for one man, and the number of sched- 

 ules received approximates 25,000. 



^Vhen I suggested to our esteemed secretary the subject of 

 this i)a])er, I entertained the ho]w that the work would be 

 sutficienth' advanced at this time to permit a general exposi- 

 tion of the results. But unfortunately for the purjjose of 

 these remarks, the returns for only a few States are now 

 availal)le. These, howe\-er, afford some \-ery interesting 

 comparisons. 



Probably none of these is more striking than the very 

 great increase in the carp fishery. Ten years ago the total 

 catch of this species throughout the United States approxi- 

 mated six million pounds. According to the present census, 

 the vield in a single State was more than three times this 

 (|uantitv, amounting to 21,342.300 pounds, for which the 

 fishermen received $562,410. In this State, Illinois, the yield 

 of carp in 1894 w^as reported at 860,330 pounds; in 1899 it 

 was 9,869,499; whereas in 1908 it was more than 24 times 

 as great as in 1894. 



The increase in carp elsewhere has been almost as striking. 

 In those States bordering the ^lissouri River the yield in 

 1894 w^as 343,969 pounds; 1899 it was *1 .492.625 ; while in 

 1908 it increased to 5,351.100 pounds, or nearly 16 times as 

 great as 14 years before. In the Ohio X'alley the increase 



