CHAPTER XIII 



FOREIGN AND COLONIAL FISHERY ADMINISTRATION 

 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



ONE of the oldest government organisations for the develop- 

 ment of the fisheries is that of the United States of America. 

 In 1871 their Fish Commission ^ was established with the 

 object " of prosecuting investigations on the subject of the diminu- 

 tion of valuable fishes, with a view of ascertaining whether any 

 and what diminution in the number of the food-fishes of the coast 

 and the lakes of the United States has taken place ; and if so to 

 what causes the same is due, and also whether any and what pro- 

 tective, prohibitory, or precautionary measures should be adopted 

 in the premises, and to report upon the same to Congress." It 

 was provided that the Commissioner should be a civil officer of 

 the Government of recognised scientific attainments, possessed of 

 practical acquaintance with the fishes of the coast. The first person 

 appointed to the post of Commissioner was Spencer Fullerton Baird, 

 at the time Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and he continued to occupy the post until his death in 1887. The 

 ability he displayed in the organisation of the Commission is un- 

 doubted ; much of the efficiency of the department is due to its 

 successful initiation, and to the fact that its work has been carried 

 on s3retematicaUy and uninterruptedly since its establishment. 

 From the very commencement the fishery service has had the 

 active support and co-operation of many of the leading biologists, 

 fish culturists and fishery experts of the country, whose volunteer 

 assistance has been an important factor in its development and 

 efficiency. 



The work of the Commission (or Bureau, its present title) falls 

 into three main groups : Exploratory, Statistical and Fish Culture. 

 The exploratory work included a detailed investigation ot the 

 marine and fresh-water fisheries of the United States, more recently 



* Reference should be made to " The United States Bureau of Fisheries : Its 

 Establishment, Functions, Organisation, Resources, Operations and Achievements," 

 by Hugh M. Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries. Bulletin, U.S.F.B., 1908, 

 Part II, p. 1367. Washington, 1910. 



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