REPORT OP COMMISSIONERS. 7 



Striped Bass ... 12 barrels. 



Shad 8 " 



Squid 2,0G0 " 



Menhaden 30,000 " 



Lobsters 20,G15 " 



LOBSTERS. 



The Chairman of the Commission would here report that in the 

 past year he has devoted much time and study to the propagation 

 of Lobsters. 



As much of the work was necessarily experimental he has there- 

 fore given more attention to learning the best methods than to the 

 production of large apparent results. He has made some import- 

 ant experiments that will be of value in the future. While the 

 hatching of eggs in incubators has been attended with a fair 

 degree of success he is of the opinion that any way differing from 

 that of nature must be with greatly increased waste, both before 

 and after hatching. 



He would, therefore, approve of retaining the egg lobsters until 

 hatched, and then either return them to the water, or exchange 

 them for other egg lobsters. Without a large outlay this must be 

 about all that can be accomplished. « 



But the subject is one of great interest and requires the most 

 patient and thorough study before determining all the points to 

 be considered. In the successful propagation of the lobster, the 

 most important of all seems to us to be the rearing of them to an 

 age when they shall have passed the first and most precarious 

 stage of their existence. Should the State ever see fit to acquire 

 control of some arm of the sea, then it may be made possible to 

 retain the young lobsters until sufficiently developed to sink to 

 the bottom and escape the most hazardous period of their lives, 

 thereby much increasing the chances of ultimate maturity. 



The complaint has been very general from fishermen and those 



