American Fisheries Socvety. 113; 
to the coast in immense droves and are perpetually renewed, 
owing to the presence of water several thousand fathoms deep 
within a few miles of the main land. 
To the attitude of the government must be attributed no 
small share in the development of the fisheries. Since the Re- 
storation, the control of the industry has been vested largely in 
the central government; and everything has been done that the 
most enlightened civilization could require to promote the wel- 
fare of the fishermen and the growth of the business. With 
characteristic progressiveness, officials have been sent’ to America 
and other countries from time to time to study fishing and fish 
culture, and the best methods of foreign lands have been adopted 
by the Japanese so far as applicable to local conditions. The 
Imperial Fisheries Bureau, a branch of the Department of Agri- 
culture and Commerce, is splendidly organized and ably ad- 
ministered by specialists in biology, fish culture, economic fish- 
eries, and law who can hold their own in any gathering. The 
work is conducted on modern lines, with great stress laid on 
scientific investigation as the basis for fishery legislation and 
promotion. 
The imperial government, and the various local governments, 
appreciate the importance of experimental and biological sta- 
tions in connection with the fisheries, and many such stations 
have been established and are now doing excellent work. Most 
of the stations or laboratories are completely equipped with can- 
ning and other apparatus, and experiments are constantly in 
progress to develop methods of preserving all kinds of aquatic 
products. 
An institution to which the Japanese can point with great 
pride, and about which I should like to talk at some length did 
time permit, is the Imperial Fisheries Institute, located in the 
outskirts of Tokyo, on Tokyo Bay. I had the honor of being 
permitted to give a talk before the faculty and students of the 
institute on the fishery work of the United States. Upon be- 
ing shown about the place and seeing something of the equip- 
ment and methods, | was completely overwhelmed, and had no 
hesitation in asserting that no other country had a similar 
institution which could compare with this one in comprehensive- 
ness of curriculum, thoroughness of instruction, and complete- 
