History

In 1871, the U.S. Department of State fostered the establishment of the Commission of Fish and Fisheries for the following reasons:   

a growing concern over the observed decline in the Nation’s fishery resources
a lack of information concerning the status of the Nation’s fisheries
a need to define and protect U.S. fishing rights

Spencer Fullerton Baird, a prominent research scientist, was appointed the first U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. Baird had previously been serving as the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution since 1850. 

Before his appointment as Fish Commissioner, Baird had already recognized the urgent need to assemble the necessary information to help analyze the magnitude of declining fisheries and identify the factors which were contributing to the decrease in fish populations.

Spencer Fullerton Baird

Consequently, it is not surprising that the first national funding for fisheries conservation occurred one year before the establishment of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries.

Commissioner Baird’s primary duty, as directed by the President and the Senate, was to “ascertain whether any and what diminution in the number of food fishes of the coast and inland lakes has occurred.” He was also required to report to Congress the necessary remedial measures to be adopted and was authorized to take fish from lakes and coastal waters, regardless of any state law.

In 1872, the Senate and the House charged the Fisheries Commission with an additional task of “supplementing declining native stocks of coastal and lake food fish through fish propagation.”

Fisheries Program

The Fisheries Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whose roots can be traced back to the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries, has played a vital role in conserving America’s fisheries since 1871, and today is a key partner with States, Tribes, Federal agencies, other Service programs, and private interests in a larger effort to conserve fish and other aquatic resources.

The Program consists of almost 800 employees nationwide, located in 65 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices, 70 National Fish Hatcheries, 9 Fish Health Centers, 7 Fish Technology Centers and a Historic National Fish Hatchery. These employees and facilities provide a network that is unique in its broad on-the-ground geographic coverage, its array of technical and managerial capabilities, and its ability to work across political boundaries and embrace a national perspective. The Program supports the only Federal hatchery system, with extensive experience culturing more than 100 different aquatic species.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices

Weighing a Lake Sturgeon along the Bad River

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices (FWCOs) of the Fisheries Program are fulfilling the first of the two original charges assigned to the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. This charge was to determine the status and declines of food fish of the coasts and lakes of the United States.  The mission of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices is to protect, restore and maintain the health of the Nation’s valuable fish and wildlife resources.

The FWCO program has 65 field offices across 32 States, with over 300 biologists and other experts committed to aquatic resource conservation.  Projects and activities are conducted in multiple core areas such as fisheries conservation, interjuristictional fisheries, habitat conservation, the National Fish Passage Program, the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, tribal assistance, and Alaska subsistence fisheries management.

National Fish Hatchery System

Inoculating a Brook Trout at Genoa NFH

The National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) of the Fisheries Program still honors the second of the original charges assigned to the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries. This charge was to supplement declining native stocks of coastal and lake food fish through fish propagation.

Established by a measure passed by Congress in 1872, which granted the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries the right to propagate fish, the National Fish Hatchery System of the Fisheries Program is the only Federal hatchery system.  The system consists of 70 National Fish Hatcheries, 7 Fish Technology Centers, 9 Fish Health Centers, 1 Historic National Fish Hatchery, the National Wild Fish Health Survey, and the Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership Program. 

With extensive experience culturing more than 100 different aquatic species, NFHS now propagates fish for more reasons than supplementing declining food species.  Hatchery-reared fish are now used to replace fish that were lost from natural events (i.e., drought, flood, habitat destruction) or human influences (i.e., over-harvest, pollution, habitat loss due to development and dam construction).  These propagated fish help establish populations to meet specific management needs and to provide for the creation of new and expanded recreational fishery opportunities.

Visit the Fisheries Program links below to learn more: