APPENDIX. 



305 



oa in remote localities not accessible by railroad or boat, and that 

 no exact information concerning them can be obtained without a 

 long, expensive trip by the use of livery. If in such cases the 

 agent can secure satisfactory information that the year's catch was 

 comparatively unimportant, he should not incur the expense of 

 the trip, but should obtain the best information possible from 

 persons who are familiar with the operations of the fishermen, 

 prepare a report, and give explanation under "Remarks." 



In cases where the fisherman is absent when the agent calls and 

 it is evident from a personal inspection that his operations for the 

 year were unimportant, the information should be obtained from 

 some one familiar with the value of the boats, equipment, and the 

 year's catch. 



General report. — Each agent will be required to furnish a general 

 statement of conditions and recent developments in the fishing 

 industry in the district to which he is assigned. Detailed answers 

 to the following inquiries will develop these conditions, and the 

 agent must submit the questions to the principal fishermen of each 

 locality and make such memoranda as will enable him to make a 

 full report when the canvass of the district is finished. 



1. Has the past season been an average one, an unusually good 

 one, or an unusually poor one? 



2. Has there been any general change in the apparatus used for 

 catching fish in the last two or three years? If so, describe briefly. 



3. What are the principal nationalities of the fishermen? 



4. Has there been any considerable change in the nationality 

 of the fishermen in the last few years? If so, describe briefly. 



5. What kinds of fish, if any, are being caught in smaller quan- 

 tities in the last few years? 



6. What kinds of fish, if any, are being caught in greater quantities 

 in the last few years? 



7. What kinds of fish, if any, have been caught for the first time 

 in the neighborhood in the last year or two? 



8. What conditions, if any, exist that make the fishing unusually 

 difficult or unprofitable? 



9. Are these conditions increasing or decreasing? 



10. Has any disease affected the fish during the past year? If so, 

 describe briefly the extent and nature of the disease and the kind 

 or kinds of fish affected. 



11. Describe briefly the nature and extent of loss of life and 

 property during the year. 



In addition to the foregoing inquiries, the agent is at liberty aDd 

 will be expected to ask such other questions as will tend to elicit 

 valuable information as to the conditions of the industry in the 

 section of the country in which he is working. 



Schedule for Vessel Fisheries EE2-248. 



Title-page. — The name and post-office address is not necessarily 

 that of the owner of the vessel. It may be the name and address of 

 the person or company operating the fishery, as in some cases the 

 Tessels are chartered and the owner is not connected with fisheries. 



Fishing port.— The term "fishing port" is generally understood 

 by vessel fishermen, and means the port at which the catch is ordi- 

 narily landed. As a rule, the homes of the fishermen are at the 

 fishing port. 



Hailing port.— The hailing port of a vessel is the port at which it 

 is documented in the customhouse and from which its official papers 

 issue. 



Name of vessel.— The full name of the vessel should be given. 

 For example, if the name of the vessel is Charles Macalester it 

 should be so reported, and not as the Macalester. If the name of 

 the vessel has been changed during 1908, that fact should be noted 

 under ' ' Remarks. '.' 



Net tonnage. — The net tonnage is given in the official papers of a 

 vessel and is also cut on the vessel itself. The owner or captain 

 will generally know the net tonnage. 



Certificate. — The certificate should show the time covered by the 



report. If the vessel was sold or destroyed during the year, the fact 



should be noted under "Remarks." A space is provided for the 



signature of the person furnishing the information for the report 



76786°— 11 20 



and the schedule should ordinarily be signed; but if for any reason 

 it is impracticable to obtain a signature, it may be omitted. In 

 such cases the agent should supply the name of the person who fur- 

 nished the information. If the post-office address of the person 

 furnishing the information is different from that given on the face 

 of the schedule, it should be reported. 



Capital invested. — The answer to this inquiry should cover the 

 entire investment. If vessels are chartered or buildings or appa- 

 ratus are rented, they should nevertheless be reported. If such 

 vessels or apparatus are included in another fisherman's report, an 

 explanation should be made under "Remarks," so that the dupli- 

 cation may be eliminated. The amount reported should be the 

 value of vessels, buildings, and apparatus at the beginning of the 

 year covered by the report. All vessels equipped with mechanical 

 propelling power are considered as "steam" or "motor." A vessel 

 having both sails and steam power would be classed as "steam." 



The term "transporting vessels'' includes all vessels connected 

 with the fishery, but not actually engaged in fishing. For example, 

 it includes towboats engaged in hauling vessels carrying fish, ves- 

 sels used as cold-storage barges or to live on, watch boats, and lay 

 boats. If a transporting vessel is not connected with vessel fisheries, 

 that fact should be stated. It might be connected with a cannery 

 or packing house or even with a shore fishery. Vessels engaged in 

 both fishing and transporting should be reported as fishing vessels, 

 but the fact that they were also engaged in transporting should be 

 noted under "Remarks." The value of outfit is, strictly speaking, 

 not an item of capital but an item of expense. The answer to this 

 inquiry, therefore, should show the total outlay for outfit during the 

 year. Many vessels will, of course, be fitted with a new supply of 

 provisions, fuel, bait, etc., several times a year. Care should be 

 taken that the answer does not show the value of only one complete 

 outfit for the vessel. It is believed that the list of apparatus given 

 on the schedule will cover practically all the kinds in general use. 

 Nevertheless, blank lines have been added, and if the agent finds 

 any apparatus in use that is not included in the list, he should report 

 it on one of these lines and should, in addition, give a general 

 description of the apparatus under "Remarks," with a diagram, if 

 necessary. If shore and vessel fisheries are carried on under the 

 same ownership, it will be necessary to fill out more than one blank, 

 but it is not necessary to divide the value of shore and accessory 

 property and cash, etc. The value of these items may be reported 

 on any one schedule and reference to that schedule made on the 

 other schedules. 



In some states private or cultivated oyster beds are leased for a 

 term of years or actually owned by the operators. Thia, however, 

 is not the universal practice, and as it will be impossible to obtain 

 the total value of all oyster beds, this item must not be included in 

 the values reported for answer to inquiry 1. 



Proprietors, firm members, and independent fishermen. — Stock- 

 holders of corporations should not be reported unless they are also 

 employees of the company. A person fishing on shares, delivering 

 a part of the catch to another person and selling the remainder, 

 should not be considered as an independent fisherman; in this case 

 the person to whom a part of the catch was delivered should be con- 

 sidered the proprietor. It is desired to show in the report the total 

 number of persons engaged in fishing. For this reason it is neces- 

 sary to indicate whether the proprietor was actually engaged in 

 fishing. In the great majority of cases the proprietor will be found 

 to be so engaged, but in cases where he is not, this fact should be 

 indicated in the space provided. If the ownership of the vessel is 

 in shares, a number of which are held by parties who take no part 

 in its management, these parties should be reported as "share- 

 holders." Persons reported in inquiries 2, 3, and 4 should not be 

 duplicated when more than one schedule is secured for operations 

 carried on under the same ownership. 



Salaried employees. — There will probably be comparatively few 

 cases where it will be necessary to answer this inquiry. It applies 

 only to large companies having a managing office in which records 

 of the fishing are kept by salaried employees. Persons reported in 

 this inquiry should not be reported on another schedule. 



