8 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



contemplating the adoption of our method of lobster culture. Your 

 Commission appreciates the fact that the success it has had in its 

 various undertakings has been made possible by the continuous sup- 

 port of the General Assembly. Interruption and uncertainty are 

 fatal to the success of experimental work which of necessity must 

 extend through several years. Having thus far led by a long dis- 

 tance all other stations in this important work, we have a pride in 

 keeping the lead for the State of Rhode Island. 



Although the method of rearing fry by the Wickford apparatus is 

 a practical success, we see clearly how it can be improved. Among 

 the discoveries made last summer was the very significant fact that 

 a great improvement can be made by getting the egg lobsters fresh 

 from the traps, not handled over, carred, packed in ice, and shipped. 

 From 56 fairly fresh egg lobsters, with about the average number of 

 eggs, nearly 85,000, lobsters were reared to the fourth stage, an aver- 

 age of about 1 ,500 for each lobster. Fresh egg lobsters should by all 

 means be had, and the only way to get them is by having a launch 

 large enough to go about in the Bay, and short distances outside with 

 safety. The launch must have a well for carrying the lobsters. 



Improvements are also to be expected in at least two other points: 

 in the feeding of the fry and in the matter of their exposure to light 

 and shadow. In view of these facts, your Commission through its 

 scientific staff is making a careful investigation of the food of the 

 young lobsters (Ch. IX), and a study of their behavior under various 

 conditions at the several stages of their early development. These 

 studies have already indicated some possible forms of improve- 

 ments. 



Your Commission has for a long time foreseen the necessity of a 

 careful study of the lobster after he has reached the lobsterling stage 

 and before he is sexually mature, for obviously the next step in the 

 lobster culture is the raising of fingerlings to adult condition. Ex- 

 perience in working out methods for rearing the young lobster fry, as 

 well as young clams, scallops, starfish, etc., proves most conclusively 

 that the way to attack such a problem is first to find out what the 



