I4IO BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



(4) discovery of a remedy for the diatom disease of lobster eggs and larvae; 



(5) studies of the causes of death of fish in captivity and the determination in a 

 number of cases of the responsible peculiarities in the water supply ; (6) studies 

 of the character of streams and the effects of various conditions on fishes, which 

 studies have supplied much information on the subject to the public; (7) 

 determination of the effects on fishes of galvanized iron and other met-^llic 

 containers used in transportation of fish and fry, and indication of certain 

 undesirable types of containers. 



COMMERCI.\L FISHERIES. 



The importance to the fishing interests of the work of the Bureau in con- 

 nection with the economic fisheries is widely appreciated and freely acknowl- 

 edged. The statistical inquiries of the Bureau afford the only adequate basis 

 for determining the condition and trend of the fisheries and the results of legis- 

 lation, protection, and cultivation. Among the numerous special matters in 

 which the Bureau has benefited the fisheries the following may be mentioned : 



By bringing to the attention of American fishermen new methods and new 

 apparatus, new fisheries have sometimes been established and new fields 

 exploited. 



By the introduction of gill nets with glass-ball floats for taking cod the 

 winter cod fishery of New England was revolutionized. In a single season, 

 shortly after the use of such nets began, a few Cape Ann (Gloucester) fishermen 

 took by this means over 8,000,000 pounds of large-sized fish, and as much as 

 $50,000 has sometimes been saved annually in the single item of bait. 



By the dissemination of information regarding new fishing grounds impor- 

 tant fisheries have been inaugurated. Thus when the abundance of halibut off 

 the coast of Iceland was made known by the Bureau a fishery was begun which 

 yielded from $70,000 to $100,000 annually to the New England fishermen. 



The Bureau has experimented with various unused or little-used products 

 in order to determine their economic value and to suggest the best ways of util- 

 izing them. Less than fifteen years ago there was practically no market for 

 the silver hake or whiting {Merluccius hilinearis), and immense quantities inci- 

 dentally taken in pound nets and other apparatus were thrown away. The 

 Bureau pointed out the possibility of preparing a marketable salt whiting; and 

 it is a significant fact that in a few years the sales of this fish in New England 

 have increased from about 100,000 pounds to 5,000,000 pounds. 



Owing to the appalling mortality among the crews of the New England 

 fishing vessels, due in large part to the foundering of the vessels at sea, the 

 Bureau many years ago undertook the introduction into the offshore fisheries 

 of a type of craft which would combine large carrying capacity and great speed 



