18 REPORT OF COMMIS.SIOXERS OF IXLAXD FISHERIES 



the exception of a few dead fish found in the head waters of the Bay 

 and one or two Uving fish showing symptoms of the disease seen in 

 the neighborhood of Pawtuxet on June 9th, and one at Wickford 

 on June 15th, no cases were observed. At any rate, menhaden were 

 not nearly so abundant in the bay in 1905, and this fact lends credence 

 to the belief that the epidemic was l)ut the result of overpopulation, 

 the effort of nature to regulate the overabundance of this particular 

 fish, and was only indirectly due to pollution of the water. 



The scallop fishery this year was again practicalh' a negative 

 quantit}'. There were no scallops in the bay. It will be recalled 

 that in 1901 the set was so thick that, in the late fall the shores 

 were actually lined with the shells of those which had been exposed 

 by the tide and then chilled by the cold. These, of course, would 

 not have been of marketable size until the next fall, since the seed 

 scallops are protected by law. Unfortunatel}^, for some unknown 

 reason, there was not much of a set in the summer of 1902, except in 

 Greenwich Bay. In the fall of this same year the scallop fishing 

 ended two months after the beginning of the open season, because 

 thescallops were practically exterminated. The winters of 1903 and 

 1904 were unusually severe, and seemed to still further decrease 

 the supply of scallops. This season there has been no scallop fishing 

 whatever in the Bay. Only one place has been reported where more 

 than one bushel has been taken, and that was near Fogland Point in 

 the Sakonnet River. The winter up to February has been unusually 

 mild and the men along shore report the occasional finding of con- 

 siderable numbers of scallops, which have worked out from some 

 unobserved spot in the eel-grass. This seems to indicate that 

 enough are left to replenish the waters of the Bay if given an oppor- 

 tunity. 



It may be that the previous two winters have been mainly re- 

 sponsible for the great reduction in the number of these shell-fish. 

 It is our opinion, however, that unrestricted fishing has been the real 

 trouble. Such an important industry and such a valuable food 

 animal should not be allowed to pass away without some efforts to 



