J. PISCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 409 



The Commissioners render their acknowledgments to the 

 United States Fish Commission for a large supply of young 

 shad placed in the Pawtuxet and other rivers. 



An extended distribution of eggs and spawn of trout was 

 also made. A good deal was also done with black bass; and 

 it is probable that before long every considerable body of 

 water in the state will be supplied with this fish. 



In an appendix to the report is given a list of the various 

 laws that have been passed for the regulation of the fisheries 

 in Rhode Island. 



REPORT OF THE FISH COMMISSIONERS OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR 



1874. 



The State Commissioners of Fisheries of Pennsylvania have 

 published their report for the year 1874, and give a satisfac- 

 tory exhibit of their activity during the year. They remark 

 that, owing to some as yet unexplained fatality, the indica- 

 tions of the increase of black bass during the year are not so 

 great as they had expected, and that the number of young 

 fish caught in the streams is much less than that of the pre- 

 vious seasons. They suggest that this may be in part due to 

 the covering up of the spawning-beds and the destruction of 

 the spawn in consequence of heavy freshets during the crit- 

 ical season. 



Attention is called to the destructive character of the 

 pound nets and other fishing improprieties in Lake Erie, 

 and the action of the Legislature is invoked for a remedy. 



The fish-way, constructed at great expense, for the passage 

 of shad at the Columbia Dam, the Commissioners believe, 

 with the alterations recently made, will be adequate to its 

 object. During 1874 the low stage of water and other cir- 

 cumstances combined to prevent the upward passage of the 

 fish for a certain part of the season, although, when a sufficient 

 flow passed through the chute, a considerable number are sup- 

 posed to have ascended. 



The shad-hatching operations of the past season were con- 

 ducted on the Susquehanna River, just below the Columbia 

 Dam, and from 174 spawning fish 3,205,000 eggs were obtain- 

 ed (an average of rather less than 18,500), and 3,065,000 young 

 fish hatched out. The work extended from the 29th of May 

 to the 24th of June. The highest temperature observed in 



S 



