American Fisheries Society. if 
One year ago you chose to elect me as your presiding officer, 
an honor | assure you that I have greatly appreciated. 
The assembling of a representative body of men in any 
capacity is considered highly proper and generally of much 
good. But the gathering of representatives from various parts 
of this our country to devise means whereby the whole world, per- 
haps, may be benefitted, is an object well worthy of our greatest 
and best thinkers. Therefore, I extend my congratulations and. 
wish you well in whatever may be done at this the 33d meeting 
of the American Fisheries Society, and trust your sojourn here 
may be both profitable and pleasant. The surroundings are, to 
say the least, pleasant and agreeable to our comfort. 
To our energetic secretary we are very much indebted, and 
T wish especially to congratulate him on the very valuable report 
issued at his hands. 
There is still room for congratulations in our increased mem- 
bership from 169 in 1898 to 386 in 1903. There should how- 
ever, be some action taken towards a still greater increase which 
would accure to our own good as well as those outside the fold. 
Our meeting at Woods Hole was one of the best ever held but 
can we not make this still better? The past year has been one of 
trying times for many of those engaged in practical fish culture, 
but the tide has been stemmed and a brighter outlook is just 
ahead. 
Since we last met as a society the grim reaper has invaded 
our ranks. While returning from our last meeting Gen. E. E. 
Bryant was stricken down. Gen. Bryant, as is well known, was 
a great inspiration to our meetings and to the individual mem- 
bers of our society as they came in contact with him. A full 
report of his life and its connection with the fishery interests of 
the United States will be given by our recording secretary, Mr. 
Peabody. 
Fish culture, so far as it relates to living swimming organ- 
isms, is no longer in its infancy in the United States and Cana- 
dian provinces. When we are producing upwards of two billion 
annually it must be conceded that our factories are running 
normally at least, not to say the output cannot be increased with 
additional capital. 
We still have some hard problems to solve. One especially 
