REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF PISH AND FISHERIES. XXXVII 



lobsters from the fishermen operating between Green Harbor and Ship 

 roudjinclndiug Dnxbury, Kingston Bay, and Plymouth Harbor. This 

 territory proved to be very disappointing, as the entire number of eggs 

 received during the months of April, May, and June amounted to only 

 5,335,000. Collections were made at the usual points in the vicinity of 

 Woods Hole, and steps wer^ also taken to secure the egg lobsters cap- 

 tured in the vicinity of Block Island and along the Connecticut coast, 

 a small smack being chartered for the x)urpose of bringing them to the 

 station and transporting the fry back to the spawning- grounds. The 

 lobsters brought in by the smack were much larger than those obtained 

 from the other points, hence the yield of eggs per lobster was greater. 

 All of the adults handled were returned to the waters after the eggs 

 had been stripped. The eggs were handled in the universal hatching- 

 jar, and tiie losses were comparatively light, the total take of 74,152,000 

 yielding 04,419,000 fry. The planting of the fry was commenced on 

 May 19, and during the season several shipments were sent by rail to 

 Plymouth and Proviiicetown, being carried in the ordinary transporta- 

 tion can without serious losses. The last deposit was made on July 13. 

 Experiments were tried during the latter part of the season in holding 

 and feeding young lobsters in hatching-boxes containing sand, gravel, 

 stones, and vegetable life. Collections of crustaceans and copepods 

 were made daily, and microscopical examinations showed that these, 

 together with some vegetable life, formed their principal food. In only 

 a few instances was cannibalism observed. 



Maclxcrel. — During May and June efforts were made to collect mack- 

 erel eggs from fish caught in pound nets in the vicinity of the station, 

 but no ripe ones were captured, though the nets were visited daily from 

 June 1(5 to the end of the month. Spawn-takers sent to'Edgartown to 

 make collections from the hand-line fishermen reported that all of the 

 female mackerel were either spent or unripe, and the only eggs received 

 v^ere several small shipments, aggregating 153,000, sent by the spawn- 

 taker stationed at Barnstable, Mass. These were collected between 

 June 19 and 26, and were forwarded to the station in Mason jars, packed 

 in an ordinary transportation can partly filled with ice water. They 

 were apparently in good condition when received, but died on the second 

 day, and it is thought that the change in temperature afi'ected them, as 

 the water inshore where they were packed was 0^ higher than that at 

 the point of collection. 



Sea hass. — Efforts were made to secure eggs of the sea bass in con- 

 nection with the collection of mackeral eggs, but only two ripe fish were 

 found. The 241,000 eggs obtained from these produced 193,000 fry, 

 which were planted in Vineyard Sound. As large numbers of these 

 fish are usually taken off Cotuit and Hyannis by hand-line fishermen 

 a spawn-taker was sent to those points, but he found that the fishery 

 had been abandoned before the commencement of the spawning season. 



Tautog. — At the approach of the si)awning season of this fish arrange- 

 ments were made for continuing the work begun last season, and on 



