8 COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



It is confidently expected that the usual natural increase in black 

 bass in those waters which have been stocked by your Commission 

 will be considerably augumented by the changes in the State law that 

 were recommended by the Commission and were passed at the last 

 session. This change protects both the immature and the spawn 

 fish by restricting the legal length to those over ten inches and making 

 it illegal to possess black bass between January 1st and July 1st. 



LANDLOCKED SALMON. 

 INTRODUCTION INTO RHODE ISLAND WATERS. 



As early as 1876 an attempt was made by your Commission to 

 introduce landlocked salmon into Rhode Island waters. Since then 

 occasional efforts (about six in number) have been made, the last in 

 1900. That these attempts were not attended with as good results 

 as might be desired was due, no doubt, to two general reasons. In 

 the first place, requiring, as this fish does, low temperature of water 

 and suitable inlets, few ponds or lakes in Rhode Island seem to possess 

 these qualities. On the other hand, occasional catches have revealed 

 the fact that some of the fish which were planted have lived and 

 thrived and perhaps it is not unjust to say that our local fishermen 

 have not employed suitable methods of capture. At any rate your 

 Commission was not convinced that the experiments had been as 

 thorough as possible. It was therefore decided late in 1910 to make 

 another attempt, using the fingerling size, instead, as was most often 

 the case in previous attempts, of using fry. Twenty thousand eggs 

 were obtained through the courtesy of the United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries and were hatched and reared to fingerlings with small loss 

 by the American Fish Culture Company. These were distributed 

 to those ponds which seem best adapted to the requirements of 

 landlocked salmon. 



With the hope of creating interest in this fish and for the benefit 

 of those who are not acquainted with its peculiarities, a cut is inserted 

 and a few general facts are given in regard to its habits and natural 

 history. 



