22 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Tlie members of the Commission, together with Mr. Venning- and Dr. 

 Smith, met at Kew York on eJnne 2, where they began their inquiries 

 respecting the mackerel fishery. From there they proceeded to Woods 

 Hole, Mass., and thence visited all the more important fishing ports on 

 Cape Cod. Subsequently a few days were spent in Boston and Glou- 

 cester, Mass., and Portland, Me. At all of these places interviews were 

 held with tlie fisliermen, the shore ai)paratus of capture was visited and 

 many mackerel were examined. At the close of the fiscal j^ear the 

 party was at Eastport, Me., from which place it was planned to go to 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



OYSTER INVESTIGATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. 

 CHESAPEAKE BAY. 



The oyster survey of Mobjack Bay, begun in May, 1892, was continued 

 during most of the following summer, being completed about August 

 20. The delineation of the oyster beds and of the areas of scattered 

 oysters in the open waters of the bay, by means of the launch Petrel, 

 was finished early in July. The dredging work was then immediately 

 taken up by the steamer Fish Hawk, Lieut. Robert Piatt, U. S. N., 

 commanding, having for its object to determine the actual condition of 

 the oyster beds, including the number of oysters of different sizes to 

 each square yard of bottom. Subsequently the steamer Fish Hcnck 

 proceeded to Tangier Sound, on the east side of Chesapeake Bay, 

 where extensive investigations had been carried on the previous year, 

 and repeated its lines of dredgings over the j)rincipal beds, in order to 

 ■ascertain what, if any, changes had taken place in their condition 

 during the intervening twelve months. While the dredging work was 

 in progress the launch Petrel continued the oyster survey up the four 

 rivers tributary to Mobjack Bay, the East, North, Ware, and Severn. 

 Signal stations had first to be established, followed by a triangulation 

 of the streams as far as was considered necessary, after which the 

 location and extent of the natural oyster beds were determined. 



The assistants of the Fish Commission who were engaged upon this 

 inquiry were Mr. John D. Battle, in charge, Mr. W. F. Hill, and Mr. 

 B. L. Hardin. As soon as this party returned to Washington the 

 constructi(m of the charts to illustrate tlie results of the investigation, 

 as well as the compilation of the data relating thereto, were pushed 

 rapidly to com])k'.tion, and copies of the same, togetlier with the cor- 

 responding charts of Tangier and Pocomoke sounds, based upon the 

 surveys of 1801, were sui)plied, at an early date, to the government 

 of Virginia, to serve as a basis iov establishing the outlines of tlie 

 public oyster-grounds in those parts of the State waters to which they 

 related, after the manner described in the last annual report. A steam 

 launch was also provided for the use of the State party engaged upon 

 this work. That the assistance rendered by the United States Fish 

 Commission in this connection was of great value to the State author- 

 ities of Virginia and was duly appreciated by them may be judged from 



