501 B 
UNITED STATES 
DEPARTMENT OF Tf I! : tNTEF !Of 
Department of Commerce 
: BUREAU OF FrSH ETRrE^S 
Fish and .Viidlife Service 
Te chnologi cal Lab orat ory 
2725 Mont lake Boulevard 
Seattle, Washington 
June 3, 
Waldo L. Schmitt , Curator, 
Division of Marine Invertebrates, 
Smithsonian Institution, 
United States National Museum, 
Washington, D* G. 
Dear Dr. Schmitt: 
This is in further reference to my recent letter regarding 
the progress of the crab investigation. 
According to the latest reports, it would appear quite def- 
inite that the populations have passed through the schooling 
stage : incidental with their inshore migration for mating and shed- 
ding, and are now becoming disbursed quite thinly but rather uni- 
formly over a wide area, in deeper water. From this, it would 
seem that the schooling period represents a relatively short time, 
probably February to May, depending on the location, and that 
large catches per unit of effort could be expected only during 
that period, in which case there will be a lot of intermingling 
of female crabs, soft crabs, et cetera, with the large males of 
best canning size. In view of this I have instructed the boats 
to try to establish the productivity per unit of gear with the 
crabs spread out, so that we can determine to what extent con- 
tinuation of the fishery beyond the schooling stage can be com- 
mercially feasible. 
The question then arises as to what would be the best pro- 
gram to follow in case additional funds are obtained for continu- 
ing the study during the summer months . I would, therefore, ap- 
preciate your suggestions at the earliest possible moment as to 
what you think would be the best points for consideration from 
the biological standpoint. There is a possibility that the 
" Jorothy" could remain in Bering Sea and follow the crabs out in 
a continuation of the study of productivity per unit of fishing 
effort, or there is a possibility they could look in on new 
places, for example around the Pribilofs, tip around wunivak Island 
and towards St. Lawrence Island, or they could return and give 
further attention to the deeper water on the east side of the 
