REPORT 
OF THE 
UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES 
FOR THE 
FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1889. 
The constitution of the Fish Commission as a separate bureau of the 
Government, which was accomplished by act of Congress approved 
January 20, 1888, terminated those relations of cooperation which had 
been so happily maintained with the Smithsonian Institution and Na- 
tional Museum under the wise and liberal administration of Prof. S. F. 
Baird — a cooperation which enlisted the aid of scientific workers in 
the solution of important economic problems, and also stimulated and 
encouraged research by presenting specific and important practical 
questions for investigation. * 
Another important and fruitful result of this cooperation was the 
acquisition (during investigations relating to the fishing-grounds and 
the distribution and abundance of the economic species of fishes) of 
rich stores of specimens of the strange and curious life of the ocean’s 
depths. These collections are of the utmost value for systematic study 
and for the enrichment of museums. 
The abrupt termination of relations so long subsisting was not with- 
out serious embarrassments and inconveniences, requiring new adjust- 
ments and arrangements, which it has been the care of the Commis- 
sioner to provide as rapidly as circumstances and means would permit. 
The offices of the Commission, which had been previously scattered 
in different parts of the city, were as far as practicable brought together 
in one building, thus permitting better supervision and more prompt 
communication, and resulting in more convenient and economical ad- 
ministration of affairs. The want of adequate accommodations for the 
offices of the Commission having been brought to the attention of Con- 
gress, provision was made in the sundry civil bill, which became a law 
March 2, 1889, for an appropriation of $7,000 for altering and fitting up 
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