REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 19 
INQUIRY RESPECTING FOOD-FISHES AND THE FISHING 
GROUNDS. 
Attention is directed to the appended detailed report on the work of 
the division of inquiry respecting food-fishes and the fishing-grounds. 
This important branch of the Bureau deals with the biological ques- 
tions which arise in connection with the economic fisheries and fish 
culture. It is particularly concerned with the exploration of lakes, 
streams, and salt waters; the study of the habits, growth, and distribu- 
tion of fishes and other aquatic animals; the experimental cultivation 
of desirable products not now the objects of cultivation, with a view 
to developing methods that may be applied on a wholesale basis; the 
investigation of the diseases of fishes under cultivation and in a wild 
state, the pollution of waters in its effect on fish life, and the encour- 
agement of biological research in the Bureaw’s laboratories and field 
operations. 
The special commission for the investigation of the salmon fisheries 
of Alaska, to which reference was made in the last report of the 
Bureau, concluded its labors in the fall of 1903, and shortly thereafter 
a preliminary report was submitted, embodying the general results of 
the investigation and making recommendations for the protection and 
promotion of the fisheries. This report was forwarded to the Sec- 
retary November 13, 1903; by him presented to the President on 
January 21, 1904, and by the President transmitted to Congress on Jan- 
uary 27, 1904, and printed as House Document No. 477, Fifty-eighth 
Conyress, second session. The most important recommendations of 
the special commission are the establishment of government salmon 
hatcheries under the control of the Bureau of Fisheries, and the placing 
of all matters relating to the fisheries of Alaska under the direction of 
the Bureau. 
Among the numerous special subjects which nave been under con- 
sideration with reference to economic questions are the oyster, sponges, 
blue crab, diamond-back terrapin, green turtle, and various fishes. 
The experiments in the artificial fattening of oysters and the cultiva- 
tion of sponges from cuttings have continued with satisfactory results. 
The raising of the diamond-back terrapin and the green turtle from the 
egg is receiving attention at points in Chesapeake Bay and on the 
coast of Florida. States in which inquiries have been made as to the 
fishery resources of particular waters are Maine, North Carolina, 
Indiana, California, and Arizona. 
STATISTICS AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
The work of the division of statistics and methods of the fisheries 
affords the only basis for determining the condition and trend of the 
commercial fisheries of the country. it isan invaluable criterion of the 
