REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. / 



developed from the beginning. Of these the following are cases in 

 point : the working out of the life history, habits, and means of de- 

 struction of the starfish, which is an enemy to the oyster; the dis- 

 covery of the means of distinguishing *' seed scallops' ' certain enough 

 to be used as legal proof; the development of a practical clam cul- 

 ture, together with the discovery of the breeding habits, rate of 

 growth, conditions of best growth, means of collecting spat, etc.; 

 The complete working out of a practical method of rearing lobster 

 fry to a point of comparative safety. All these have been tackled 

 as unsolved problems and worked out to practical application. 



The principal work at the station last year was upon lobster cul- 

 ture, including investigations looking forward to future steps in this 

 business. As for several years past, the output of fingerling lobsters 

 has doubled that of the preceding A'ear. This year nearly 200,000 

 were reared and liberated in the Bay. The effect of liberating these 

 lobsters in previous years is already marked, and fishermen through- 

 out the upper part of the Bay have for two or three years been report- 

 ing considerable numbers of small lobsters in localities where they had 

 not been found for many years. Several new^ discoveries were made 

 this season which will, we believe, greatly increase the efficiency of 

 this branch of the work. For example, it has been shown that the 

 rate of growth of the lobster can be so increased or diminished, as to 

 make a difference of more than 100 per cent., according to the amount 

 and kind of food given. The difference in grow^th due to the loss of 

 limbs and regeneration has also been shown to be of great importance 

 from a commercial point of view. It was found that the fourth-stage 

 lobsters could easily be carried in quantities through the next molt, 

 with little loss in numbers, and with great gain to their chances for 

 the future. 



In solving the problem of rearing lobster fry, your Commission has 

 succeeded in doing what has been unsuccessfully attempted by 

 many state and national fisheries boards. 



It is with gratification, which w^e hope your Honorable Body may 

 share, that we learn that several of these national governments are 



