6 



Rf:PORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



The increase in the importance of the commercial fisheries is not by 

 any means a local matter, but is general throughout nearly the whole 

 "world; witness the development of fisheries along the Atlantic and 

 Pacific seaboards of the United States and Canada, the organization 

 of the federation among the nations of northern Europe into a board 

 of international fisheries, and the paramount fishing industry of 

 Japan. Better organization, new and more effective methods, 

 knowledge of the habits and movements of fishes, increasing facilities 

 for distribution to markets, and the corresponding greater demand 

 for fish food, and the realization of the immense possibilities of the 

 fisheries in increasing the world's food supply are all factors in the 

 development of this growing industry. 



Within our own waters, some idea of the increase in the commercial 

 fisheries during the past ten years can be obtained from a summary 

 of the yearly census which your Commission has compiled regarding 

 the number of fish traps set within the Bay and in the waters im- 

 mediately outside. Leaving out of account the Block Island traps, 

 the data are as follows: 



The increase in the number of traps has been general throughout 

 the Bay, though it has been greater in some localities than in others. 

 This appears in the following summary: 



