Henry O' Malley
Published: 2015-08-05
Total Pages: 734
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Excerpt from Report of the United States Commissioner of Fisheries: For the Fiscal Year 1931 With Appendixes The honorable the Secretary of Commerce. Dear Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1931. The commercial fisheries of the United States and Alaska in the calendar year 1929 furnished employment to more than 191, 000 persons, of whom 123, 000 were fishermen and 64, 000 were in the wholesale and manufacturing industries. The catch amounted to 3, 567, - 000, 000pounds, returning to the fishermen$123, 054, 000. Commercial fishermen conduct their operations on the high seas, along the entire stretch of our extensive coast line, including Alaska, on the Great Lakes, and in interior waters. Angling is followed in practically all waters capable of supporting fish life, and interest in this recreational pastime has tremendously increased. The Senate Special Committee on Conservation of Wild Life Resources estimates that there are 8,500,000 fishermen or anglers in the country and that the value of fishing tackle manufactured is approximately $25,000,000. The national Bureau of Fisheries is concerned with the wise use of this great natural resource and its maintenance and extension without danger of exhaustion. The output of fish and eggs from its 88 stations and substations located in 35 States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia approximated 7,122,000,000 during the fiscal year ended June, 1931, and included marine, anadromous, and freshwater species of commercial importance, as well as the highly prized game fishes. The bureau supplied 119 cooperative nurseries with over 4,000,000 young fish, increased its own output of fingerling fish by 28 percent, and salvaged more than 182,500,000 fish in the Mississippi River section. Dependence on it for fish for stocking purposes was greatly increased because of the ruinous drought of the preceding season, in which many streams completely dried up. Added fish-cultural facilities provided for under the 5-year construction and maintenance program (act approved May 21, 1930)are being established as rapidly as possible. The bureau's program of biological research included studies of 30 important food and game fishes, expansion of its program of research in the fields of experimental fish culture and oyster farming, and direct aids to the fishermen in forecasting the abundance of certain species, in effecting means for lessening the destruction of immature and undersized fish, and in determining what restrictions were needed to conserve the supply. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.