REPOHT OK THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 9 



land waters have borne their first noteworthy fruit in Sunapec Lake, 

 New Ilanipsliire, whiMo many of these fish have recently been cap- 

 tured and identified. ^Vhe(her this valuable species will succeed in 

 establishing itself in tliis lake remains to be seen. Fishermen all 

 along the New England coast report a remarkable increase in the 

 abundance of lobsters; this is shown by a larger catch and a reduc- 

 tion in the price paid b.y consumers, and is believed to be the outcome 

 of the largely increased plants of fry during the past few years. 



SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 

 PEARL-MUSSEL INM5STIGATI0NS. 



An important biological investigation during tlie past year has 

 been addressed to the distribution and habits of pearly mussels in the 

 Mississippi Valley and to experiments in mussel culture. The pearl- 

 button industry of the United States has an invested capital of 

 $2,000,000 and produces an annual output valued at about $6,000,000, 

 but the supply of fresh-Avater mussels which constitute its raw ma- 

 terial is becoming rapidly exhausted, and the industry will eventually 

 cease to exist unless relief is afl'orded. The Bureau is now endeavoring 

 to locate all possible sources of supply and to determine the extent of 

 the depletion which has occurred, is making studies of the habits of the 

 mussel in order to recommend necessary regulation of the fishery, and 

 is experimenting in artificial propagation. The culture experiments 

 have been successful almost from the beginning, and the w'ork is even 

 now being conducted on a scale promising practical results. Con- 

 gress, moreover, at the solicitation of the pearl-button interests and 

 on the recommendation of the Bureau, has provided for a station 

 where mussel culture can be conducted on a scale commensurate with 

 the requirements, and it is hoped to have this in operation during the 

 ensuing year. The methods of mussel culture are such that they are 

 applicable to large streams and lakes as a function of the Government, 

 or to smaller inclosed bodies of water under private enterprise. They 

 can also be conducted with little additional expense in connection with 

 the rescue of fish from overflowed lands, which already constitutes an 

 important work of the Bureau in the Mississippi Vallej'. 



OYSTER WORK AND EXPERIMENTS. 



Louisiana oyster work. — The experiments in Louisiana undertaken 

 at the request of the Louisiana Oyster Commission have been at- 

 tended with the most gratifying success and appreciation of the 

 economic aspects of the work. The experimental beds in Barataria 

 Bay, where there has been no oyster industry heretofore, have yielded 

 at the extraordinary rate of from 1.500 to 2.000 bushels of marketable 

 63703— OS 2 



