LVTII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Correspondence with Treasury Department officials. 



The circular issued by the Treasury Department to the collectors of 

 customs is one of the most valuable means of obtaining information 

 concerning the statistics of fisheries. 3,445 of these reports were for- 

 warded to the Commissioner in the calendar year of 1886, 2,535 in the first 

 half of 1887, and 5,436 during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1888. They 

 are increasing in value every year and have been of great assistance in 

 preparing the compilations elsewhere mentioned. 



From the materials above mentioned tables can be prepared at short 

 notice, showing in detail almost every aspect of the vessel fisheries for 

 the food fish of any State or section. The reports, however, do not in- 

 clude the shore fisheries and those devoted to the whale, seal, and walrus. 



The division has conducted an extensive correspondence in order to 

 obtain these data. To the Executive Departments, the committees of 

 Congress, and the International Fisheries Commission much information 

 has been furnished on matters concerning the fishery relations between 

 the United States and Canada. 



From January 1, 1887, to June 30, 1888, 888 letters were written and 

 sent from the office, besides 2,000 cyclostyle forms to collectors of cus- 

 toms and vessel owners, filled out to suit individual cases, numerous 

 replies to private parties seeking information, and letters to field agents 

 relative to their work. 



In response to requests received from the Department of State, the 

 International Fisheries Commission, the Congressional committees on 

 Fisheries and Foreign Affairs, and from other Departments of the Gov- 

 ernment, and private individuals, twenty-four tables and statistical 

 statements were prepared. These include lists of American vessels 

 whose fishing operations were inconvenienced by the Canadian govern- 

 ment; American v*?***-, entering British North American ports and 

 fisning grounds ; j ^ products imported from and bait exported to 

 Canada ; American vessels fishing on offshore grounds, including refer 

 ences to the fishing centers, baiting localities, and average catch ; statis 

 tics ot special fisheries, as the halibut, cod, mackerel, and menhaden 

 accounts of the fisheries of special ports, as Philadelphia and Camden 

 and statements of the number and nationality of New England fisher 

 men and the value of the fisheries. 



At the request of the International Fisheries Commission Captain 

 Collins furnished " some reasons why the fishermen of Nova Scotia pre- 

 fer to use salt clams (My a arenaria) for bait in the Bank hand-line cod 

 fisheries." For the use of the same Commission, and at the instance of 

 the Department of State, he prepared four large colored maps covering 

 the region between Cape Hatteras and Labrador, at the intersection of 

 the fifty-third parallel of north latitude, and showing graphically the 

 geographical distribution of the marine fishes most important for food 

 and bait, the areas of greatest abundance, the principal fishing ports 

 and baiting stations, and various other facts bearing on the fishery 

 relations between the United States and Canada. 



