demonstrated at the Halifax Convention, and the impossibility of judicious legislation without them, has called my attention especially to the importance of organized action to that end on the part of the government. The Treasury Department is especially concerned in this effort, and indeed it has for many years published an annual statement of the fisheries, which is, however, so imperfect as to be really worse than none. This, however, is not its fault, as there is no provision of law by which these facts can be procured. The attention of the department has, however, been called to this question, and the assurance is received that the proper legislation from Congress will be invoked to make it imperative for the owners and masters of vessels to furnish the desired returns. I have considered it my duty, as United States Commissioner of Fisheries, to gather as much of the information in question as possible, it being strictly and legitimately connected with the work intrusted to the commission at its original organization by Congress. During the present year my attention has been more urgently than ever turned to this direction as shown in the article on the Halifax Commission. It is now my desire, in co-operation with the Treasury Department, to procure and furnish, first, as complete an account as possible of the natural history, including the migrations, movements, rate of growth, character of development, etc., of our principal food-fishes; second, the general statistics of the American fisheries, giving the character and amount of catch, number of vessels and men employed, the amount invested, the proceeds of the fisheries, &c. For the better accomplishment of these results the series of circulars, indicated in the foot-note,* and reproduced in full in the Appendix, has been printed by the Treasury Department and circulated in very large numbers. As explained in the article on the Halifax Commission, the first step was to communicate with all the postmasters along the coast, within three miles of salt-water, asking the names of persons known to them as interested in the fisheries. This request met with prompt and general response and furnished a series of *1. Circular regarding tagged fish in Lake Michigan.... 2. Memoranda of Inquiry. 3. Questions-Food Fishes. 4. Circular to accompany "Questions-Food Fishes" 5. Statistics Menhaden Fisheries-Circular.... 6. Statistics of the Whale Fishery.... 7. Statistics of Fishery Marine-Circular.... 8. Blank tables to accompany Circular.... 9. Statistics Menhaden Fisheries. 2d ed.. 10. Questions-Food Fishes. 2d ed...... 1871 1872 1872 . 1872 1873 1875 1875 1875 1875 1877 11. Statistics Mackerel Fishery, etc. (To accompany "Food Fishes, 2d ed.").... 1877 12. Statistics Cod Fishery, etc.... 13. Statistics Mullet Fishery, etc.... 14. Statistics of Coast and River Fisheries.. 15. New York Market Blanks.... 16. Ocean Temperature Blanks.. 1877 ... 1877 . 1877 1877 1877 names that was classified by states, counties, and towns, and to which the circulars were then distributed. Copies were sent also to all the collectors and inspectors of customs, inspectors of light-houses, lighthouse keepers, and other officials of the government. The long experience of the Smithsonian Institution in collecting information has shown that it is not well to ask for too much at one time, and that a new circular should not be distributed until the responses to its predecessors have in greater part been received. The result in the present case was even more satisfactory than had been anticipated, though, of course, a large precentage brought no answers whatever. Out of a considerable number a few were so complete and exhaustive as to cover the whole ground, while those of less extent served to give greater minuteness and precision to the details. The first result of this series of inquiries into the history and statistics of particular fisheries is seen in the report of the United States Fish Commissioner for 1871-72, in articles upon the bluefish and scup, made by myself; the next appears in the report for 1875-1876, in a memoir upon the American whale-fishery, by Alex. Starbuck, intended to serve as a record of a century's progress in this industry. The historical portion of the work was prepared entirely by Mr. Starbuck himself. His statistics were, however, supplemented and extended by the answers to Circular No. 6, of the series just referred to. In the Appendix to the present report, Vol. V of the series, will be found a monograph upon the history of the American menhaden by Mr. G. Brown Goode. This is a work of 539 pages, and is based almost entirely upon the information furnished in MS. in response to several successive circulars sent out by the Commission. Circulars have also been distributed in regard to the cod, mackerel, halibut, alewife, and smelt; and monographs upon all these species may be looked for in future volumes of the Fish Commission reports. A great deal of information has also been gathered in reference to the natural history of other fishes, among the most important of which is the southern mullet, a fish which in the future is destined to rival the mackerel in industrial and commercial value, and a detailed report upon which will be published at an early day. In addition to the methods of obtaining information just referred to much has, of course, been gathered by personal inquiry on various portions of the coast, either direct or through agents of the Commission. The results obtained in this relation by Vinal N. Edwards, of Wood's Holl, Mass., have already been mentioned under the head of Halifax Commission. A proper knowledge of the methods of fishing practiced in other countries having been deemed desirable, I have had translations prepared of sundry articles containing otherwise inaccessible information in reference to the fisheries of Norway and other parts of Europe most closely related to our own. To such as appear in the present volume I proceed to refer. NOTICE OF ARTICLES RELATIVE TO THE SEA-FISHERIES PUBLISHED IN THE APPENDIX. Although the United States are not so exclusively occupied with the fisheries as are Norway, Newfoundland, and some other countries, yet, in view of the extent to which the population along the sea-coast and on the lakes is at present engaged in the prosecution of this industry, and considering the enormous aggregate of capital invested and the material results, it is surprising that so little has been done, either by the governments, general and State, or by individuals, in placing the theory and practice of matters connected with our fisheries on a methodical and systematic basis. Most nations, with the exception of the United States, have the necessary machinery for obtaining statistics of results. Norway, however, is the only nation that has a scientific commission occupied officially in the supervision of the fisheries, and in devising methods by which they may be carried on and extended with the least possible waste. To the labors and observation of such men as Dr. Boeck, Professor Sars, and others is due much of the present efficiency of the Norwegian fisheries. The United States Fish Commission now proposes, as far as the means are furnished by Congress, to do what it can to place the American fisheries on a proper footing, and to make such observations and suggestions from time to time as may appear to be desirable. With this view it has gathered models of the apparatus used by other nations in its fisheries, some of which embrace features that may be reproduced by the fishermen of the United States to very great advantage. The fisheries display of the Commission at the Centennial was a first step in this direction, and it is proposed to make this as complete as possible in the reproduction of the exhibition on a much larger scale, whenever Congress furnishes the necessary accommodations. For the purpose of bringing to the notice of persons in the United States interested the methods and general plans adopted by foreign fisheries, and especially so far as they are novel to our people, I have taken much pains to obtain official information of other nations; and as this relates for the most part to the experience of Scandinavian countries, I have had translated a number of interesting statements and statistical accounts, some of which have been presented in earlier reports, and others will be found in the Appendix to the present volume. The extent to which this information has hitherto been locked up by the medium in which it has appeared, will be shown from the fact that quite recently Prof. Milne Edwards, an eminent naturalist of France, in publishing an article upon the fisheries of Norway and Sweden, acknowledged his indebtedness to the reports of the United States Fish Commission as containing the only accessible rendering of this important information. Of all the European fisheries with which the United States is related that of the Loffoden Islands off the northwestern portion of Norway is the most important, and I therefore have given several articles on this subject. The first of these is a translation, illustrating the general character of these islands, their physical features, and their natural history. This is followed by the report of Professor Sars of his obervations during the years 1864 to 1877, inclusive, upon the fisheries of the Loffoden Islands, this containing by far the greatest body of information ever published in regard to the habits and natural history of the cod, and its relations to the fishermen and fisheries. It is a storehouse of information of the most important character, and upon its revelations have been based many of the plans of the United States Fish Commission in regard to the artificial propagation of that species. An article on the general sea-fisheries of Norway, their methods, results, &c., as practiced in 1877, also forms a portion of the Appendix. The original of this pamphlet was distributed at the Paris Exposition as a companion to the fisheries display made by Norway on that occasion. An article on the geographical distribution of the Gadide or codfish family, from the German of Dambeck, is also given in the Appendix. This, being mainly a compilation from published records, has many errors, some of which have been corrected; others of less moment have been allowed to pass unchallenged. It gives, however, a very readable and interesting history of the distribution of the cod and its various allied species throughout the various portions of the globe. The article upon the history of the first five years of the Emden Joint Stock Herring Fishery Association, by Dantzing, contains many important suggestions, which may profitably be borne in mind by American. companies organized for a similar purpose. Numerous mistakes made by this association in its early operations, and acknowledged as such in the article, may readily be avoided after being pointed out. A paper on the sea-fisheries of a portion of Sweden, by von Yhlen, is also instructive. These fisheries are less important than those of Norway, and, while possessing similar characteristics, also have diversities which may be noted by American fishermen to advantage. In the Appendix also will be found details of a series of experiments made by Commander Beardslee upon the time of exposure needed for correct observations by the Casella-Miller thermometer. I have already explained in previous reports the importance of indications of the temperature of the water at various depths from the surface and the bottom, as illustrating the variations in the appearance of different food-fishes along the coast. It is well established that the movements of the herring, cod, mackerel, and other fishes have a direct relationship to the question of the temperature, and that the occurrence of these fish may, in many cases, be readily anticipated and proper arrangements made for them by studying indications of the thermometer for a considerable time previons. It is therefore of importance to know the method of treatment of the thermometer used in this work; and the experiments of Commander Beardslee have given us the means of making a proper and very necessary allowance for instrumental errors. F.-PROPAGATION OF FOOD FISHES. 10.-GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. A patient whose constitution has been undermined by disease of long continuance is unreasonable in expecting good results and a radical cure after a short application of approved remedies, yet he and his friends may be disappointed if the recuperation from the excesses or lesions of many years is not manifest in as many days. In reality, the reverse is rather the rule, the time of recovery being more frequently much longer than that of the continuance of the morbific influences. The expectations in regard to the results of fish culture are of somewhat the same character. Although decades of years, perhaps even a century, may have witnessed the continuance of agencies for the diminution of fish in our waters, the public mind is unsatisfied, and perhaps inclined to severe criticisms if the recovery of a supply is not appreciable within the first two or three years of effort. We are, however, clearly entitled to maintain, in view of the experience of foreign countries and our own, that no reasonable anticipation in this respect will be disappointed, and that the proper measures of legislation and of artificial propagation will exhibit a marked result lông before the end of the present generation. In no instance can even the beginning of a success be achieved in a shorter period than four or five years, as the young, especially of the anadromous fish, such as the shad, the alewife, and the salmon, require that period for arriving at maturity. The parent fish are first obtained, the eggs extracted and fertilized, and after being hatched out the young are finally deposited in the waters to take their chances. Whatever be the extent of time during which the progeny remain in the river, they are more or less withdrawn from observation, and it is only when the young fish has reached full maturity and revisits its place of deposit for the purpose of spawning that its presence is appreciated. It sometimes happens, too, that, for one reason or another, the first deposit of young fish proves to be a failure. They may be introduced while in a sickly condition, so that a difference of temperature causes them to succumb; or else in such small numbers that in the presence of an unusual abundance of enemies they may all perish. What special agencies there may be in the ocean after they reach it we are unable to say; but from their wider dissemination their chance of escape is greater. Again, we may misunderstand the period required for the maturity of certain species. While four years may be considered the general average for cod and herring, five are probably required for the Eastern salmon, and it is not impossible that the California salmon will show itself only after the lapse of six years from its birth. I hope, however, to introduce enough illustrations of even partial success to warrant the attention of Congress and of the States towards the operations of the United |