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The formation of the
Fisheries had a hard time passing the Congress in 1871. Here is a
brief history of NMFS, "A Century of Conservation".
Forty-First Congress. Sess. III. 1871: "Whereas it is asserted that the most valuable food fishes of the
coast and the lakes of the United States are rapidly diminishing
in number, to the public injury, and so as materially to affect the
interests of trade and commerce..."
Visit the Classics section of our publications office
Spencer Baird's Legacy Which started in Woods Hole spans over 125 years of Fisheries research.
The National Marine Fisheries Service started in 1871 here in Woods Hole.
This quick history of Woods
Hole and the early days of the Fisheries starts long before then
when in 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold first landed here...
The story of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts by Paul S. Galtsoff - 1962
Brief History of marine mammal research in the northeast USA Marine mammals have been important in the northeastern United States
historically both as objects of commercial harvests and in ecological interactions with commercial fisheries. There was some scientific attention given to east coast marine mammals as early as 1851
History and Contributions of
the Woods Hole Fisheries Laboratory was taken from a lecture
given at the Fisheries Centennial Celebration (1985) by Robert L.
Edwards. It gives an overview of the historical contributions the Woods
Hole fisheries lab made to the formation of fisheries science and the
beginnings of the scientific community in Woods Hole.
Historical
Development of Fisheries science was taken from a lecture
given at the Fisheries Centennial Celebration (1985) by William F.
Royce and is his review of the development of fishery science and
management.
Groundfishing, the catching of fishes that swim in close proximity
to the bottom, was the first colonial industry in America. Now we are
faced with unprecedented low stocks of groundfish species, and an
industry shrinking in regional importance. This Brief history of groundfishing in
New England is intended to look back to the beginnings of the
20th century, and to follow the development of groundfishing to the
current times.
Smithsonain's National Museum of Natural History articles on Spencer Baird The year 2000 marks the 150th anniversary of ichthyology at the Smithsonian Institution. In
1850, a young naturalist named Spencer F. Baird arrived at the Smithsonian to take up his
duties as the new Assistant Secretary. Over the next 37 years, while occupying the posts of
Assistant Secretary and then Secretary of the Smithsonian, Director of the United States National
Museum, and Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Baird, among his many other
accomplishments, oversaw the establishment and development of ichthyology as a vital
component of the institution's scientific mission.
This 1948 report, by William F. Royce, describes in lay language the first year of operation of the ALBATROSS III
NOAA Fisheries 1996 125th Anniversary Page (No longer maintained)
More Baird related sites
Other Fisheries Historical Documents (From NOAA and other sites)
Online version of the 1953 edition of Bigelow and Schroeder's "Fishes of the Gulf of Maine"
Report upon the Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound and the
Adjacent Waters, with an Account of the Physical Characters of the
Region," Report of United States Commissioner of Fisheries 1874
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