Stripping Cod at Sea on a Winter Morning.

Fisheries Bureau Spawn-taker aboard a trawler. Note the snow on the rail,the frozen spray on the mast, and the ice on the rigging.

Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.

U. S. SERVICE SERIES.

THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FISHERIES

BY

FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER

With Fifty-one Illustrations, principally fromBureaus of the United States Government

BOSTON
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

Published, November, 1912

Copyright, 1912, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.

All rights reserved

The Boy with the U. S. Fisheries

Norwood Press
Berwick and Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass.
U. S. A.

To My Son Roger's Friend

COLIN McLACHLIN

PREFACE

Treasure-ships, bearing richer cargoes than any galleons that crossedthe Spanish Main, still sail over the ocean to-day, but we call themfishing smacks; heroism equal to that of any of the pioneer navigatorsof old still is found beneath oilskins and a sou'wester, but the heroesgive their lives to gain food for the world instead of knowledge; andthe thrilling quest of piercing the mysteries of life has no greaterfascination than when it seeks to probe the unfathomed depths of thatgreat mistress of mysteries—the Ocean. Just as to save life is greaterthan to destroy it, so is the true savior of the seas the Fisheriescraft, not the battleship; so is the hatchery mightier than thefortress, the net or the microscope a more powerful weapon for good thanthe torpedo or the Nordenfeldt.

The Bureau of Fisheries for the United States Government, Mr. Chas.Frederick Holder and his associates for the anglers of America, and thesturdy and honorable class of commercial fishermen are raising to theutmost of dignity and value one of the oldest and greatest of allindustries. Not till the waste of waters is tamed as has been thewilderness of land will their work be done, and the Fisheries Bureaumust ever remain in the forefront of such endeavor. To reveal theincalculable riches of this vast domain of rivers, lakes, and seas; toshow the devotion of those whose lives are spent amid its elementalperils and to point out a way where courage, skill, and youth may find aroad to serve America and all the world beside, is the aim and purposeof

The Author.

CONTENTS