20 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



set and of the rate of growth of these two species alone would yield 

 annually more money than the investigations of your Commission 

 would have cost in twenty years. 



It is characteristic of scientific investigation, as our former col- 

 league, Professor Bumpus, so strongly contended, that results do 

 not appear all at once or at any scheduled time, and that the most 

 valuable applications arise from unexpected sources. The success of 

 the scientific investigations and their application which your Com- 

 mission has achieved is due in large measure to persistent effort on 

 the part of your Commissioners and to the contiaued support of the 

 State. 



The Collection of Data and Statistics Relating to the Com- 

 mercial Fisheries. 



The difficulty of collecting complete and accurate statistics of 

 the total catch of fishes has been remarked upon in previous reports. 

 There are so many and so various channels through which fishes 

 reach the market or the private consumer that it is practically im- 

 possible to keep track of them all. This difficulty is not peculiar 

 to Rhode Island, but applies to the fishing industry generally. 

 Nevertheless, a fair indication of the relative status of the fisheries 

 is to be had by comparing the statistics taken year after year from 

 the same sources. With this word of explanation, the following 

 tables of the catch of fishes and lobsters, based upon the records of 

 dealers and transportation lines, are, as heretofore, submitted: 



