REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 29 



of the clam should be ascertained, and the feasibility of artificially 

 restocking portions of the shore should be tested. There is here 

 an imperative demand made upon the Commission to rehabilitate 

 a waning industry. 



3. The statutes provide that the Commission " shall from time 

 to time examine all the weirs, traps, and other contrivances, with 

 the view of carrying out such regulations as are most beneficial to 

 the people of the State." At the present time the State has no in- 

 formation as to the number, location or ownership of the fish traps, 

 and is keeping no adequate record of the amount of fish caught, 

 or of the amount consumed within the State, or shipped into other 

 States. With the assistance of the fishermen of Rhode Island it 

 has planned to keep a record of the location and ownership of the 

 fish-traps, and to jealously guard our interests against the inva- 

 sion of those who are not inhabitants of the State. 



4. It is the purpose of the Commission to examine into the 

 breeding habits of the food fishes, and to endeavor to induce the 

 shad, and the salmon, to again return to our waters. 



5. Your Commissioners are faithfully endeavoring to preserve 

 to the SJate an industry which has yielded many millions of 

 dollars in the past, and which, if intelligently administered, will 

 continue to be one of its richest possessions. The members of the 

 Commission are serving without salary, and they only ask for 

 sufficient funds to protect and advance the affairs of the fisheries 

 in accordance with the interests and economy of the State. 



