EEPOKT OF THE SECRETARY. 57 



the facts and statistics of the two countries, and a vast amount of in- 

 formation relating to the subject was brought together in the form of 

 testimony of witnesses and experts and by the presentation of tables, re- 

 ports, and digests. The volumes of the reports of the proceedings of 

 the commission constitute a rich field for the naturalist as well as the 

 statistician. 



Material service was rendered by the United States Fish Commission, 

 in the collection of important statistics gathered expressly for the pur- 

 pose, especially in the presentation of tables, showing the catch of fresh 

 fish along the coast of the United States within the treaty limits. This 

 work was more particularly under the charge of Mr. G. Brown Goode, 

 who executed it to the entire satisfaction of the American counsel. 



The occasion was made use of by me to collect information and to 

 prepare a systematic account of what is known of the habits of the cod 

 and mackerel, and the various methods of capturing them, the bait to 

 be used, &c, which will form the subject of special reports hereafter. 



The award of five and a half millions of dollars, as representing the 

 value to Great Britain of the privileges conceded to the United States, 

 has given very great dissatisfaction in this country, to the New England 

 fishermen especially, who denounce it as unjust in the highest degree, 

 and express the hope that at the earliest possible moment the treaty will 

 be abandoned, even if the original condition of things be restored. 



The very great lack of published information on the subject of the 

 American fisheries, as compared with the extremely methodical and 

 precise summaries of the Canadian authorities, has induced me to give 

 especial attention to this subject for information in the future, and with 

 the co-operation of the State Department, which has placed a small 

 fund at my disposal for the purpose, I am engaged in collecting, col- 

 lating, and digesting the facts and statistics in reference to the Ameri- 

 can fisheries, an information doubtless of much value on the occasion of 

 another arbitration similar to that at Halifax. This work is more par- 

 ticularly in charge of Mr. Goode. 



To ascertain the accuracy of the figures presented at the Halifax 

 convention as to the catch by citizens of the United States of mackerel 

 off the American and Canadian coast, I employed Mr. Alexander Star- 

 buck, of Waltham, Mass., to make a new digest of the records, as 

 shown by the State inspections of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massa- 

 chusetts. His work has been completed and shows a material difference 

 from the old figures, but without affecting the strength of the American 

 case. 



Statistics of sea fisheries. — Beference has already been made to the data 

 relative to this subject at Halifax, and the intention on the part of the 

 commission to secure reliable records of the catch, export, and consump- 

 tion in the United States of the more important fish. For this purpose 

 circulars were issued, requesting answers to certain questions relating to 

 the habits, mode of capture, statistics, and disposition of the cod, the 



