LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, January 22, 1915. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a communication from the Commissioner of Fisheries, transmitting a report on the ottertrawl fishery, in compliance with items in the sundry civil appropriation acts approved August 24, 1912, and June 23, 1913, directing the Commissioner of Fisheries to investigate the method of fishing known as beam or otter trawling and to report to Congress regarding the effects thereof. Respectfully, E. F. SWEET, The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, TRANSMITTING A REPORT ON THE OTTER-TRAWL FISHERY AND MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THAT FISHERY. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, The SECRETARY OF COMMERCE : BUREAU OF FISHERIES, Washington, January 20, 1915. There is forwarded herewith, for transmission to Congress, a report embodying the results of an investigation by the Bureau of Fisheries of the method of fishing known as otter trawling. The investigation was undertaken, and this report thereon is submitted, pursuant to the authority contained in the act approved August 24, 1912, making appropriations for sundry-civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, as follows: To enable the Commissioner of Fisheries to investigate the method of fishing known as beam or otter trawling and to report to Congress whether or not this method of fishing is destructive to the fish species or is otherwise harmful or undesirable, $5,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary. A similar provision was contained in the sundry civil appropriation act for the following year, the sum voted being for the completion of the investigation. In anticipation of the foregoing action by Congress, preliminary inquiries were begun on otter trawlers operating out of Boston in June, 1912. On September 30, 1912, Mr. A. B. Alexander, assistant in charge of the division of statistics and methods of the fisheries, was ordered to proceed to Boston and other places to determine on methods for prosecuting the inquiry, but it was not until December 28, 1912, that he was given definite authority to proceed with the work. Mr. Alexander had exclusive charge of the field investigations, with headquarters in Boston, and, with the exception of insignificant intervals, was continuously in the field during the calendar year 1913; and he is responsible for the methods followed and the data collected. Under the plan of investigation adopted, men in the employ of the Bureau were placed on a number of the vessels, both otter trawlers and trawl liners, to make personal observations and records of the practices of the fisheries and the character of the catch. To each man there were issued the following instructions and schedule of the salient points at issue: INSTRUCTIONS FOR OTTER-TRAWL INVESTIGATIONS. The general purpose of the investigation is to determine the efficiency of the apparatus employed and its effects upon the fishes and the fishery. The principal points to be considered are as follows: 1. The defining of each separate fishing area over which the trawl was worked. If within sight of land, giving the bearing of the nearest point of land and the distance from shore. If out of sight of land, giving the name of the fishing bank, and, if possible, the latitude and longitude. 2. The days and dates trawling was carried on. 3. The number of times the trawl was lifted each day. 4. The length of time the trawl was down on each occasion before lifting. 5. The speed of the vessel when trawling. 6. The weather conditions each day. 7. The kinds of fish taken from the net after each haul. 8. The quantity of fish, including shellfish, taken in each haul, showing the quantity of each kind and its proportion to the whole catch. (This should be ascertained by actual count or measurement, if possible. If this can not be done, then the closest possible approximation should be made.) 9. The quantity and kind of immature edible fish taken in each haul and the proportion of such to the whole. 10. What disposal was made of such immature fish, and what disposal was made of all nonedible fish taken. 11. The proportion of fish that were alive when each haul was brought on deck, and the kinds mostly found to be alive. 12. If immature and nonedible fish were thrown overboard, the percentage of each kind that were alive when returned to the sea and the percentage that would be likely to survive. 13. The size, up to which the various kinds of fish were regarded as immature and unmarketable by the captain of the trawler. 14. The number of times the trawl was worked over the same piece of ground in succession, showing whether the second or further drags were as successful as the first. 15. Whether fish eggs or spawn (except what might be emitted from the fish in the net by their own weight) were taken on any occasion, and if so, the kinds taken. 16. Whether fry of any fish were taken on any occasion, naming the kinds. 17. Whether ordinary fishing vessels at work were within sight on any occasion during trawling operation, and if so, giving the distance between such vessels and the trawler. 18. Whether any nets, lines, or other fishing gear were carried away or whether the fishing success of such gear was interfered with in any way by the presence of the trawler. 19. Details should be given showing the kinds of gear, where it was set, and the quantity damaged in each instance. OTTER TRAWLERS. Urgent representations have been made to this Bureau to the effect that the method of fishing known as otter trawling, which has been introduced on this side of the Atlantic only a few years ago, is such an unduly destructive method that if generally adopted the lines and other gear of ordinary fishing vessels will be continually carried away and destroyed and the fishing grounds quickly rendered nonproductive. The representations take the following form: 1. That the fishing areas where steam trawlers have already been operating have become seriously depleted of fish. 2. That the spawn or eggs of fish are destroyed by the trawlnet when being dragged along the bottom. 3. That immature fish are taken in very large numbers, which are killed in the process of capture and are thrown away. 4. That valuable shellfish are destroyed in large numbers. 5. That steam trawlers carry on operations at night as well as in the daytime, and that although an effort might be made to keep clear of the ordinary fisherman's gear during daylight, no such effort would be made in the darkness, owing to the invisibility of the buoys and other floating marks. 6. That it is not an uncommon thing for a steam trawler to come close to ordinary fishing vessels and their dories when the gear of the latter is in the water and being overhauled, and, if fish appear plentiful, to sweep around the spot and with the trawlnet carry away the gear with all the fish on the hooks. 7. Further, that while steam trawling has been prohibited within the territorial waters of Canada, such protection affords the inshore fisherman little protection, as their gear is frequently set even long distances beyond territorial waters, and it, of course, affords no protection whatever to the "bank" fisher men. On the other hand it is urged: 1. That steam trawling is not an unduly destructive method of fishing, as an evidence of which is the fact that it has been intensively carried on in the North Sea and other European waters for very many years without any diminution of the fisheries being apparent. 2. That continuous supplies are necessary to meet the demands of the growing fresh-fish markets, and that as steam trawling can be carried on in practically all weathers, it is the only means of providing such continuous supplies. 3. That edible flat fishes, for which there is an evergrowing market, and which are taken in very limited quantities by hook and line, can be secured in large quantities by steam trawlers. The men were supplied also with printed forms on which to record full data respecting the date, location, duration, and length of each haul; the numbers and sizes of each species of commercial fish taken; and the numbers and sizes of edible fish of species never, or not usually, placed on the markets. They were required to record, also, all observations of facts bearing on the points in dispute, the condition (living or dead) of the fish thrown overboard, the amount and character of the bottom material brought up in the trawls, any interference with or damage to trawl lines, etc. The men making the observations on the vessels were: W. W. Welsh, assistant, Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. |