LVIII REPOET OF COMMISSIONEE OF FISH AND FISHEEIES. 

 14.— THE FISHERY CENSUS OF 1880 AND ITS RESULTS. 



As stated in preceding reports, an arrangement was made with Gen- 

 eral Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of the Tenth Census, in 1879, 

 by which an investigation of the fisheries of the United States was 

 undertaken as the joint enterprise of the U. S. Fish Commission and of 

 the Census Bureau. It was decided that this investigation shoukl be 

 as exhaustive as possible, and that botji the U. S. Fish Commission 

 and the Census should participate in its preparation. The making up 

 of a statistical and historical account of the fisheries, in general, to be 

 published in the report of the Superintendent of the Census, was from 

 the first the main object, but in connection with this, exhaustive inves- 

 tigations into the methods of the fisheries, the location and extent of the 

 fishing grounds, and the natural history of useful marine animals were 

 carried on. 



The details of the proposed research were drawn up before the begin- 

 ning of the work, and were published in an octavo pamphlet of fifty-four 

 pages, entitled " Plan of Inquiry into the History and Present Condi- 

 tion of the Fisheries of the United States. Washington, Government 

 Printing Office-, 1879," and was reproduced in the 1880 Eeport, Part 

 YIII, pp. 3-52. 



The expense of the field-work from July 1, 1881, was for vhe most part 

 borne by the Census, together with a large amount of compilation 

 work carried on by clerks detailed from the Census Office in Washing- 

 ton. That involved in the preparation of the report, final tabulation 

 of statistics of production, and preparation of illustrations has been 

 mainly at the cost of the Fish Commission. Since February, 1881, Mr. 

 Goode's connection with the Census Office has been purely nominal, 

 and his services in the preparation of the reports and in connection with 

 their publication have been rendered without compensation, in addition 

 to his regular duties as assistant director of the National Museum. In 

 the same manner a large share of the most important work upon special 

 parts of the report has been the volunteer labor of officers of the l!ifa- 

 tional Museum and Fish Commission, in addition to their regular duties. 

 A number of employees of the Fish Commission were detailed from time 

 to time for special work upon this report, for periods varying from four 

 months to two years. 



The participation of the Census Office and the Commission of Fish 

 and Fisheries has involved the expenditure of probably nearly equal 

 amounts of money, and the division of the results, so far as they are 

 represented in reports ready for the printer, has been arranged to the 

 satisfaction of both. The extent of the material collected has, however, 

 been much greater than was anticipated, and the portion assigned to 

 the Fish Commission being too bulky for publication in the annual 

 reports, application was made to Congress for permission to print as a 

 separate special report an illustrated work in quarto upon the Food- 

 Fishes and Fisheries of the United States. 



