REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 17 



of the actual output of "bottom stage" lobsters during these ten 

 years are given below in tabular form, and they are, we believe, a 

 contribution to the argument for sustained and continuous experi- 

 menting in developing efficient methods. 



1898, "several specimens" (Woods Hole) 1904 50,597, (Wickford). 



1899, "several hundred" (Woods Hole) 1905 103,572, (Wickford). 



1900 3,425 (Wickford) 1906 189,384, (Wickford). 



1901 8,974 (Wickford) 1907 294,890, (Wickford). 



1902 27,300 (Wickford) 1908 322,672, (Wickford). 



1903 13,500 (Wickford) 



With regard to the evidences of increase in the lobsters of the Bay 

 as a result of the propagation and liberation of a million "bottom 

 stage" lobsters from Wickford, we have in previous reports mentioned 

 the frequent catches of small lobsters in the upper part of the Bay, 

 where for many years previous they have been apparently absent. 

 The operations of the beam trawls in the Bay during the last winter 

 have contributed further evidence. Though the trawls have a large 

 mesh which let escape the small lobsters under ordinary circumstances, 

 yet there have been caught, entangled in the seaweed and twine, a 

 large number of small specimens from two to eight inches in length. 

 Sometimes twenty or thirty, or even more, are caught at a single 

 haul. Of special interest in this connection is the fact that, as gathered 

 from many inquiries, the catch of such young lobsters has been very 

 slight in the east passage of the Bay and very heavy in the west 

 passage, where the majority of our lobsters have been liberated. 



CONTINUED INVESTIGATION. 



The successful outcome of the investigations and experiments of 

 your Commission with regard to clam and lobster culture does not 

 by any means exhaust the possibilities. It is evidence, on the con- 

 trary, of the ultimate economic value of continued scientific investi- 

 gation even when the first results have apparently no practical 

 application. The possibilities of future development are far greater 



