The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States (five sections)

The famed ichthyologist (fish scientist), Smithsonian museum administrator, and U.S. Fish Commissioner, George Brown Goode (good’ dee), managed a large scientific staff to research and write this compendium of the state of the American fisheries in the early 1880s. It is a monumental, multi-volume work that describes fish and their life histories, ecological relationships, the equipment and methods of American fishermen, as well as the American fishermen’s way of life.

This excerpt includes the title page and plates 260-269 (plates part 2) from Section I of The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States.

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In 1871, Congress created the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries to study declining fisheries and recommend solutions to reverse this trend. Acknowledging that the U.S. lacked fundamental knowledge of its fisheries, the first head of the Commission, Spencer Baird, initiated a research program to study fishes and their marine environment, fishing equipment and methods, fisheries statistics, and fish culture and propagation.

sketch of a fishing schooner at anchor in winter on the Grand Banks, riding out a gale

Fishing schooner at anchor in winter on the Grand Banks, riding out a gale. The fishermen of New England endured harsh conditions and the ever-present danger of stormy seas to catch codfish each winter in the Atlantic Ocean east of Newfoundland. (sec. IV, pl. 16)

Content Scope

To help answer the need for more detailed information on the history and current state of the U.S. fishing industry, George Brown Goode, Baird's assistant and later the Assistant Director of the National Museum (precursor to the Smithsonian), oversaw the research, writing, and publication of The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States. The scope of the work is amazing!

Under Goode's direction, a team of more than 20 fisheries scientists and researchers and up to 20 clerical employees investigated the natural history of 239 marine mammals and fish, including seals, whales, turtles, fishes, lobsters, crabs, oysters, clams, and sponges, as well as their geographical distribution, size, migrations, and economic value. Goode's researchers studied fishermen and fishing towns, lending insights into 19th century attitudes towards this important American subculture. Readers gain a poignant picture, for example, of the Italian fishermen of Monterey, California, when described as: "...conspicuous in their costumes of black and white checked shirts, red flannel undershirts, gray trousers, black felt hats, golden ear rings, and high rubber boots." (sec. IV, p. 30)

Illustrations

This treatise is profusely illustrated and has entire sections devoted to plates of animals of the sea, as well as prevalent fishing methods at the time. Among those who illustrated these seminal volumes were: Captain J.W. Collins, an expert on New England fisheries for the Fish Commission; Henry Wood Elliott, an early advocate of fur seal conservation, who also illustrated an edition of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes; Captain B.F. Conklin; and J.S. Ryder. T.W. Smillie, the chief photographer for the Smithsonian, contributed photographs.

Part of the Census

Goode and his staff produced this enormous volume of material in cooperation with the superintendent of the 10th Census of Population. Fisheries were one of many aspects of American life and industry that the U.S. government investigated while simultaneously counting the nation's population. Other topics captured during the Census included mining, manufacturing, water power, power sources and machinery, Native Americans, forests, and newspapers and periodicals.

Goode died tragically in 1896 at the age of 45 after completing a volume on the history of the first 50 years of the Smithsonian Institution.

 

  • Author: George Brown Goode (1851-1896)
  • Date Published: 1884-1887
  • Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
  • Location: Washington, DC
  • Length:
    Section I, Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals, 895 pages
    Section I, Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals, Plates part 1, plates 1-180
    Section I, Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals, Plates part 2, plates 181-277
    Section II, A Geographical Review of the Fisheries Industries and Fishing Communities for the Year 1880, 787 pages
    Section III, The Fishing Grounds of North America, 238 pages and 49 charts
    Section IV, The Fishermen of the United States, 178 pages
    Section V, History and Methods of the Fisheries, Volume I, 808 pages
    Section V, History and Methods of the Fisheries, Volume II, 881 pages
    Section V, History and Methods of the Fisheries, Plates part 1, plates 1-149
    Section V, History and Methods of the Fisheries, Plates part 2, plates 150-255

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The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States

Related Web Sites

Biography of George Brown Goode from the Smithsonian Institution

More about The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States

Biographical Sketch of George Brown Goode by David Starr Jordan

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