[9] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 1163 



" 2. The investigation of the methods of fisheries, past and present, 

 and the statistics of production and commerce of fishery products. 

 Man being one of the chief destroyers of fish, his influence upon their 

 abundance must be studied. Fishery methods and apparatus must be 

 examined and compared with those of other lands, that the use of 

 those which threaten the destruction of useful fishes may be discour- 

 aged, and that those which are inefficient may be replaced by others 

 more serviceable. Statistics of industry and trade must be secured for 

 the use of Congress in making treaties or imposing tariffs, to show to 

 producers the best markets and to consumers where and with what 

 their needs may be supplied. 



"3. The introduction and multiplication of useful food-fishes through- 

 out the country, especially in waters under the jurisdiction of the Gen- 

 eral Government, or those common to several States, none of which 

 might feel willing to make expenditures for the benefit of the others. 

 This work, which was not contemplated when the Commission was es- 

 tablished, was first undertaken at the instance of the American Fish- 

 Cultural Association, whose representatives induced Congress to make 

 a special appropriation for the purpose. This appropriation has since 

 been renewed every year on an increasingly bountiful scale, and the 

 propagation of fish is at present by far the most extensive branch of 

 the work of the Commission, both in respect to number of men em- 

 ployed and quantity of money expended. 



#- * # * * # # 



" Since the important sea-fisheries are located along the North At- 

 lantic, the coast of this district has been the seat of the most acti ve 

 operations in marine research. For twelve years the Commissioner, 

 with a party of specialists, has devoted the summer season to work at 

 the shore, at various stations along the coast from North Carolina to 

 Nova Scotia. 



"A suitable place having been selected, a temporary laboratory is 

 fitted up with the necessary appliances for collection and study. In 

 this are placed from ten to twenty tables, each occupied by an investi- 

 gator — either an officer of the Commission or a volunteer. 



" The regular routine of operations at a summer station includes all 

 the various forms of activity known to naturalists — collecting along the 

 shore, seining upon the beaches, setting traps for animals not other- 

 wise to be obtained, and scraping with dredge and trawl the bottom of 

 the sea, at depths as great as can be reached by a steamer in a trip of 

 three days. In the laboratory are carried on the usual structural and 

 systematic studies, the preparation of museum specimens and of re- 

 ports. 



"The permanent headquarters are located at Wood's Holl, Mass., 

 where wharves are being built for the accommodation of the fleet ot 

 the Commission, and a house for use as scientific and fish-cultural lab- 



