BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
BUREAU OF FISHERIES,
Washington, July 1, 1922.

Hon. HERBERT HOOVER,

Secretary of Commerce.

DEAR MR. SECRETARY: In response to your request I furnish the following condensed report upon the work of the bureau during the past year:

COMMERCIAL FISHERIES.

The depth of the period of depression affecting the fisheries and the fishery industries, referred to in the report for 1921, has passed, and a slow but definite improvement is now apparent. During the calendar year 1921 the depression was extreme, both the catch and the quantities of fish preserved being smaller than in the previous year. The landings of fresh and salted fish at Portland and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., were over 27 million pounds less in quantity and 21 million dollars less in value than in 1920. In Alaska the salmon pack decreased 1,832,637 cases and its value $15,970,056. The pack of sardines in Maine and the total catch of fish in California in 1921, as compared with 1920, are further examples of the decreased production of the fisheries. The prices received by the fishermen have also been lower, a condition that continued into the first half of the calendar year 1922.

This depression was practically world-wide, and reports from important fishing countries of Europe indicate that conditions were worse there than in the United States. While specific statistical data for the first half of the calendar year 1922 are not available, operations generally indicate a firmer tone in the market, and canners and manufacturers of scrap and oil are proceeding with more assurance than in the preceding year.

The bureau has endeavored to assist the industry in coping with the difficulties encountered during this period, particularly along practical lines, in the merchandising and preservation of fishery products. Its market surveys in Louisville, Ky., Pittsburgh, Pa.,

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31 hand, transportation, and distribution of fresh and nch whipiscing them in the hands of the consumer in more attractive condition. They are handicapped, howof facilities for investigation and experiment, and the need of the bureau is means for supplying this deficiency thestry can not meet. Investigations in this field, to termarent value, are time-consuming and expensive. There nay problems to be solved, but it has been the policy of the w being the greatest benefit to the largest number of persons. Jurtal to limit its undertakings to those which, when concluded, The great interest shown in freezing fish in brine, and the potenal value of development of a practical commercial method for using the process, has caused the bureau to adopt this as one of Is major projects for investigation. A review of the present state of the subject has been published, attention has been called to means for properly glazing brine-frozen fish, and at the close of the Escal year apparatus was under construction for experiments One of the heaviest financial burdens imposed on the fishermen is the cost of nets, which are subject to rapid deterioration in use and have to be frequently replaced. A review of the state of knowledge of net preservation and experiments with preservatives now in use or recommended by European investigators developed the lack of knowledge of the fundamental facts on which real progress must be based. Coincidently with experiments toward the development of a more satisfactory preservation, an investigation was undertaken of the weight added to nets by various types of preservatives, their effects on the flexibility, shrinkage, strength, and wearing qualities of the twine under various conditions of exposure, and their relative effects in preventing fouling by organic growths. The investigations are drawing to a close and a report on the results will be prepared for the use of the industry as promptly as practicable.

unfit for further use. A report on the nature, causes, and degree of this deterioration was published during the year. This work was undertaken with the purpose of preventing the deterioration of the oil or developing methods for its restoration to a usable condition, but the results indicated that the changes were of such character as to make realization of that purpose improbable. An attempt therefore has been made to develop a substitute process which would eliminate the fry bath. The successful canning of sardines is largely dependent on the removal of excess water from the fish. In the experiments made, the best results have accrued from thorough brining and drying, followed by packing the fish raw and cooking them in the subsequent processing in the cans. Storage and shipping tests are now in progress. The process appears to possess some merit. The personnel of the bureau available for these technological investigations is inadequate in number and pitifully underpaid considering the needs of the industry and the number and difficulty of the problems awaiting solution. No small part of its time has been occupied in supplying information, suggestions, and advice concerning practically every broad phase of the fishery industries. If the bureau is to discharge its duty to the fisheries, its technological staff must be augmented and the salaries must be commensurate with the service required.

The statistical work of the bureau has been more energetically prosecuted than ever. The usual data for the more important fishing ports have been collected, compiled, and published; certain special fisheries such as those for shad and alewives in the Potomac and Hudson Rivers have been canvassed; a bulletin on the fisheries of Maryland and Virginia and one on the fish-canning and fish byproducts industry were published; in cooperation with the Bureau of Markets, Department of Agriculture, monthly bulletins on the cold-storage holdings of fish were issued; and the bureau has cooperated with the Bureau of the Census in the collection of statistics of fish-oil production.

ALASKA FISHERIES.

The yield of the salmon industry of Alaska was greatly reduced in 1921 as compared with previous years, but nevertheless it produced

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The production of halibut; herring; trout; shrimp; and mild-cured, pickled, and fresh salmon was greater in 1921 than in the previous year, but, on the whole, the industry declined both in production and value, the heaviest loss being in salmon canning. In 1921, 15,070 persons were employed in the fisheries, the active investment of capital was $39,001,874, and the value of products was $24,086,867. The output of canned salmon was 2,596,826 cases of forty-eight 1-pound cans each, valued at $19,632,744, a decrease of approximately 41 per cent in quantity and 45 per cent in value as compared with the previous year.

In October and November, 1921, three hearings were held for the consideration of necessary changes in the regulations regarding salmon fishing, and as a result the department issued orders, effective January 1, 1922, whereby all commercial fishing in the streams and lakes of Alaska, and within a zone extending 500 yards off the mouths of all streams, is now prohibited, with the exception of the Ugashik and Karluk Rivers, where, owing to peculiar geographic conditions, specified districts remain open to fishing.

On February 17, 1922, an Executive order was issued creating a reservation designated as the Alaska Peninsula Fisheries Reservation, extending eastward from the Aleutian Islands Reservation to a line from Foggy Cape, on the eastern end of Sutwik Island, to Cape Menshikof, on the northern shore of the Alaska Peninsula, and including the Shumagin Islands and the territorial waters adjacent to these lands, and also the lands of the Aleutian Islands Reservation. Regulations governing fishery operations within this reservation were also issued, and permits were granted by the department for 1922 to plants already established within the reserved area.

No change has been made in the Alaska fishery law since its adoption, June 26, 1906, although efforts have been made repeatedly by the Department of Commerce, Alaskan representatives, and those engaged in the fishery industry to obtain a revision. Various bills have at times been pending in Congress, but little progress was ever made because of opposition which developed to certain features of the proposed legislation. The limited authority of the department has been supplemented by the issuance of Executive orders in some instances, which have permitted the restriction of operations within specified areas. This is a means, however, which properly may be used only in emergencies, and does not obviate the need of general revision of the fisheries law to cover new branches of the industry which have. developed and new situations which have arisen in recent years.

ALASKA FUR-SEAL SERVICE.

The importance of the work of the fur-seal service is growing from year to year with the increase in the size of the seal and fox herds and the larger number of skins taken. As a result of experi

ments improved methods of handling the fur-seal skins are being gradually put into effect on the islands.

Sealskins secured in 1921 numbered 23,681, practically all of which were from animals 3 and 4 years old. The number taken in 1922 through the regular killing season that ended on August 5, was 30,261, of which 29,153 were from 3-year-olds. The census of the seal herd as of August 10, 1921, indicated 581,443 animals of all ages, of which 176,655 were breeding females, and the same number were

newborn young.

Under the contract with Fouke Fur Co. for the dressing, dyeing, and sale of the fur-seal and fox skins from the Pribilof Islands, two public auction sales were held at St. Louis in the fiscal year 1922. A total of 22,976 dressed, dyed, and machined fur-seal skins were disposed of, and gross proceeds of the sales were $722,060, net proceeds being $313,492.33 after deduction of all expenses, including payments to Great Britain and Japan under the sealing convention of July 7, 1911.

There is also a considerable return from the herds of blue foxes which are maintained on the Pribilof Islands. Special attention. has been given to the development and care of these herds which, it is believed, will steadily become more valuable from year to year since a dependable supply of food is available from the commercial killings of seals. The fox pelts taken during the winter of 1920-21, numbering 1,125 blues and 14 whites, were sold at public auction in St. Louis in September, 1921, for $109,398. During the winter of 1921-22 foxing operations yielded a total of 712 blue and 21 white. pelts, which will be sold in due course. A suitable reserve of breeding animals was also made for the maintenance of the herds.

The work on the Pribilof Islands is carried on by the bureau's staff of about 15 white employees and the communities of natives numbering in all over 300 persons. In return for the general services performed, the natives are furnished food, fuel, clothing, and miscellaneous supplies, and provided with living quarters, medical attention, and school facilities. Cash payments are also made for certain work in connection with the taking of seal and fox skins. Annual supplies for the Pribilof Islands were transported chiefly by the radio tender Saturn of the Navy Department, but smaller shipments were made by commercial vessels at various times during the year. Vessels of the Coast Guard also rendered many courtesies in the transportation of passengers and small lots of supplies.

A party headed by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce is making a trip in the summer of 1922 to the Pribilof Islands and other islands of the North Pacific Ocean, to which fur seals resort. Special attention will be given to the methods of taking the seal census and determining the quotas of animals which may properly be killed for