352 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



21. Bait investigation. — No field work was attempted until the ap- 

 pointment of Professor Goode as Commissioner. Soon after, Mr. W. 

 A. Wilcox was sent to Maine to make a special inquiry concerning the 

 use of clams (Mya arenaria) for bait by cod fishing vessels, and the ex- 

 tent of the exportation of salted clam bait to the British North Ameri- 

 can Provinces. The information thus collected (which was supplemen- 

 tary to that secured at the same time by correspondence with mer- 

 chants and customs officials) was required for the use of the Inter- 

 national Fisheries Commission that was then in session at Washington. 

 This work was satisfactorily accomplished and the results obtained 

 were promptly transmitted to the Fisheries Commission. 



22. Inquiry into the shad fishery. — Soon after the appointment of the 

 present Commissioner, Mr. Luther Maddocks was directed to make an 

 inquiry into the condition of the shad fisheries of the South Atlantic 

 States, from Florida to and including Chesapeake Bay. This investi- 

 gation was ordered primarily for the purpose of noting the effect of 

 artificial propagation upon the abundance of the shad and the capture 

 of that species in the region covered by the inquiry. It therefore nat- 

 urally included the collection of statistical data, the location of fixed 

 apparatus of capture, and the obtainment of other information inci- 

 dentally or directly connected with the shad fishery. 



The field work was completed in April, and Mr. Maddocks has been 

 employed since that time, until the close of the fiscal year, in elaborat- 

 ing his notes. 



23. Proposed investigation of the Pacific coast fisheries. — The fisheries 

 of the Pacific coast are of great importance, and, being chiefly prose- 

 cuted along the shore or in bays and rivers, come largely under the 

 classification of " shore fishery.' 7 For this reason detailed comprehen- 

 sive information can not be obtained concerning them except by spe- 

 cial investigation, since the circulars received through the cooperation 

 of the Treasury Department do not include the shore fishery, nor do 

 they apply to the now valuable industries of whaling and sealing which 

 are important features in the Pacific fisheries. 



But, although it was thus manifestly desirable that the status of the 

 fisheries of that region should be well understood, it has not been feasi- 

 ble since the census of 1880 to send Fish Commission agents there to 

 make an inquiry into their extent and value. The Commissioner, Col- 

 onel McDonald, was, however, strongly impressed with the importance 

 of making a comprehensive study of the Pacific fisheries, and early in 

 his administration he decided to undertake it. His plans contemplated 

 a preliminary reconuoissance of the coast fishing stations before detail- 

 ing agents to make the investigation, and he proposed to send me to 

 the Pacific States for that purpose, as has been stated elsewhere. Un- 

 expected events and unanticipated exigencies of the service combined 

 to temporarily frustrate the proposed inquiry, but it is hoped that it 

 may soon be practicable to undertake it. 



