EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXXV 



year. In the spring she served as a tender to the work of fish propa- 

 gation at Battery Station, and in the summer she was used in connec- 

 tion with the marine investigations at Wood's HoU. By reason of her 

 general seaworthiness, she was able to proceed without convoy to the 

 New England coast, and to return without any damage. 



The other launches, belonging to the Navy Department, were also in 

 constant use and kept in thorough repair by the Commission. 



E. — The Canvas-Back. 



In a previous report reference „ was made to a small light-draft 

 steamer, which it was considered desirable to have for service in laying 

 out the seine over the shoal waters at Battery Station. Although such 

 a vessel would have been very desirable, no appropriation was available 

 for its construction, and the project remains in the same condition as 

 last year. 



F.— Proposed Fishing Schooner. 



Eeference has been made in previous reports to the project of having 

 a schooner constructed with a well, in which living fish might be trans- 

 ported from place to place, to be used more especially as a tender to 

 the Wood's Holl station in bringing in living codfish, halibut, and 

 other species from distant points, to be kept in basins until the eggs 

 were ripe for removal. Such an appendage is deemed absolutely neces- 

 sary to the proper working of the Wood's Holl establishment. 



Gapt. J. W. Collins, one of the assistants of the Fish Commission, 

 and who for many years has been a highly successful practical fisher- 

 man of Gloucester, was directed to prepare a model, drawings, and spec- 

 ifications of a suitable vessel that should contain, as far as possible, 

 all the best qualities of the fishing service of both America and Europe, 

 and serve as a suitable mean between the comparatively shoal schooners 

 used in the United States and the deeper draft of the European 

 smack. Well fitted by his previous experience, he utilized his attend- 

 ance upon the Berlin Fishery Exposition in 1880, and that of London 

 in 1883, to solve the problem submitted to him ; and a model which the 

 U. S. Fish Commission exhibited at London was highly approved by 

 those who were competent to criticise and judge. It is hoped that 

 Congress may at an early date furnish the means for building such a 

 vessel, and not only aid the Commission in carrying out its work, but 

 also in supplying a pattern for imitation by the fishermen. 



Very few persons realize the annual loss of property and life incurred 

 in connection with the fishing fleet of New England, especially off 

 George's Banks, which are not improperly called " Gloucester's grave- 

 yard." There has been for many years an average destruction of 10 

 vessels and the loss of 100 lives ; sometimes the figures are consider- 

 ably larger. These vessels, for the most part, founder and disappear 

 entirely, without leaving any trace behind or any suggestion as to the 

 actual causes of their destruction. 



