76 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



experiments in new methods were tried, the results of which fur- 

 nished a large amount of information as to the details of construction 

 which will be of use in the future. 



Few changes were made in the method of rearing the fry, and dur- 

 ing the first half of the season there was promise of a better output 

 than ever before. In the midst of the season, however, a south- 

 east storm, one of the most severe in many years, broke over the 

 Bay, and although ample provision had been made against an ordi- 

 nary storm, many of the fry were lost. Hardly any damage was sus- 

 tained by the apparatus, but the storm shields of the side floats 

 were carried away, and the waves had free access to the large bags 

 which contained the fry. The loss of fry could doubtless have been 

 made good had it been possible to obtain more lobster eggs, but the 

 storm had also carried away the lobster pots or their buoys in all 

 the Rhode Island waters, and before the lobstermen had repaired 

 damages, the season for procuring eggs was past. 



The total output of the lobsterlings for the season was 13,500, 

 against 30,000 for the year before. These lobsters were liberated as 

 follows : 1 ,500 on the south shore of Mill Cove, Wickf ord ; 5,000 near 

 the White Rocks; 5,000 on the rocky shore of Little Tree Point; 

 2,500 on the west shore of Conanicut. The decrease in the number 

 ( )f lobsters reared to the fourth stage was through no fault of the prin- 

 ciple, the method, or the apparatus with which we are working. 



We believe that the problem which we attacked, nameh', that of 

 rearing lobster fry through the critical period, has been solved, and 

 that, at present, the hatchery is a benefit to the industry. This will 

 not, of course, be construed as a statement that no further progress 

 can be made toward perfecting the method or increasing the effi- 

 ciency of the apparatus. 



Aside from the regular work of hatching, much attention has been 

 given to the improvement of minor details of the apparatus. For 

 example, improvements in the transmission machinery, in the man- 

 ner of fastening the large bags to their frames, so that they can be 

 more readily raised, and so that the bottom will not be bowed 



