REPORT ON STATISTICS AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



By A. B. Alexander, Assistant in Charge. 



SUMMARY OF THE WORK. 



The work of this division during- 1904 included a statistical canvass 

 of the salmon fisheries of Alaska for the j^ears 1901, 1902, and 1903, 

 and of the salmon-canning industry of Washington, Oregon, and Cali- 

 fornia for the season of 1903; an investigation of the fisheries of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States for 1902, including inquiries into the 

 alligator and otter industries of the interior waters of Florida; a can- 

 vass of the New England fisheries and those of the interior waters of 

 New York and Vermont for 1902; of the Hawaiian Islands for 1903, 

 and of the shad and alewife fisheries of North Carolina for the season 

 of 1904. At the close of the year an investigation of the Great Lakes 

 fisheries was in progress, and a study of the fishery products on exhi- 

 bition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition had been undertaken. 

 These inquiries were conducted through the regular corps of statisti- 

 cal field agents. Monthly returns of the quantity and value of the fish 

 caught and landed at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., by American ves- 

 sels ha^'e been submitted by local agents. The results of the various 

 canvasses are summarized in the following pages, and a detailed report 

 on the fisheries of the interior waters of New York and Vermont is in 

 course of publication. In addition to the usual monthly bulletins of 

 fishery products landed at Boston and Gloucester, the following have 

 been issued by the division during the year: 



No. 145. Statement of the quantities and values of certain fisliery products landed 

 at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., by American vessels during the year 1903. 



No. 147. Fisheries of the Gulf States, 1902. 



No. 149. Fisheries of the South Atlantic States, 1902. 



No. 151. Fisheries of the New England States, 1902. 



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