Oversize reproduction of the Bureau of Fisheries of the Middle Atlantic States Statistical Bulletin No. 184, produced in 1904 by the Bureau of Fisheries, Department of Commerce and Labor. Statistics include those for states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as the items utilized by the fisheries and the products produced. Also printed on the bottom of the statistical bulletin is a supplementary table showing certain of the above products in number and bushels.

The Office of the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries was established in 1871, and Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian was appointed the first Commissioner. The Office was created to study the diminution of the fishes of the coastal waters of New England. The duties of the Commission were gradually expanded to include fish culture, further studies of fisheries and fishery industries, and studies in freshwater and marine biology. The Commission was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 and its name changed to the Bureau of Fisheries. In 1939, the Bureau was transferred to the Department of Interior, and in 1940 was merged with the Bureau of Biological Survey to form the Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish Commission and its successors have always maintained close ties with the Smithsonian and the United States National Museum. Baird was Assistant Secretary and Secretary of the Smithsonian while serving as Commissioner and often assigned Smithsonian staff to Fish Commission duties. In a number of cases, there was considerable overlap between Smithsonian and Commission work. A number of Commission staff, including Tarleton Hoffman Bean and Barton Warren Evermann, served as Honorary Curators for the Museum's Division of Fishes. The Division has also served as the depository for specimens collected by the Fish Commission and its successors.