REPORT OF COMMISSION ER OF FISH Atflf FISHERIES. LXXXIX 
University, Worcester, Mass. Seven persons were present last summer 
in the department of investigation and eight in the department of 
instruction. The facilities incidentally afforded at this place through 
the location there of the Fish Commission station probably had much 
to do with its selection as the site for the Marine Laboratory. On the 
other hand, the Commission has much to gain from its new neighbor, 
through the results of studies which its specialists are certain to make 
on the biology of hshes and through the opportunities to interest its 
workers in the practical objects of the fishery investigation, in regard 
to which substantial assistance may ultimately be derived. 
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS. 
The Sturgeon ( Acipenser siurio—oxyrhynchus) . 
The condition of the sturgeon fisheries, both in Europe and in 
America, has occasioned much concern among the fishermen, owing to 
the steady decrease in the abundance of the common species, which 
form the object of this important industry. The Atlantic coast fishery 
in the United States, on its present distinct and extensive basis, is of 
comparatively recent origin, and has resulted in part from the increased 
favor with which sturgeon meat is now received, but even more from 
the growing demand for caviare both for local consumption and for the 
export trade. The statistics for 1888 place the catch of sturgeon on 
the Atlantic and Gulf coasts at 7,300,000 pounds, valued at $103,000, 
and the production of caviare at 486,000 pounds, valued at $68,000. 
New Jersey and Delaware lead all the other States in this industry. 
In order to obtain more positive information respecting the advisa- 
bility of attempting che propagation of the American species, and to 
determine what arrangements could be made for taking up that work, 
Mr. S. G. Worth was detailed in the spring of 1887 to make an exam- 
ination of the extensive fisheries on the Delaware River and Bay. 
After diligent inquiry and personal observations extending through 
several weeks Mr. Worth was able to indicate the duration of the 
spawning period and to estimate the number of ripe fish obtainable 
during each season, besides collecting valuable statistics and visiting 
several places suggested as convenient sites for the location of a hatch- 
ery. Following out the same line of investigation, Prof. John A. Ryder, 
of the University of Pennsylvania, was induced the following spring 
to undertake for the Fish Commission a careful study of the embryology 
and life history of the sturgeon, on which to base a practical system of 
propagation. It was at first proposed that Prof. Ryder should operate 
in conjunction with the steamer Fish Hawk , then engaged in shad- 
liatching near the city of Philadelphia, but as the spawning fish could 
not conveniently be obtained in that locality, lie proceeded to Delaware 
City, where his observations and experiments were conducted. While 
thq field work relating to this subject was carried on during the fiscal 
year 1888, the material obtained was not fully elaborated until near 
the close of the present year. 
