REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 59 

 THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 



Advantage was taken of the presence in the field of the agents 

 engaging in the canvass of the mackerel fishery, and investigations of 

 a number of other important fisheries of the Kew England States 

 were undertaken. The time and force were not sufficient, however, to 

 permit a canvass of all the commercial fisheries of the region. The 

 study of these fisheries, like that of the mackerel fishery, was in 

 progress at the close of the fiscal year. 



The special branches of the industry which were made the subjects 

 of inquiry and report were the whale, menhaden, herring, alewife, shad, 

 salmon, smelt, lobster, oyster, clam, and scallop fisheries, sardine and 

 lobster canning, and the manufacture of oil and fertilizer from men- 

 haden. The statistics covering these fisheries were obtained in such 

 form as to exhibit the extent of each, regardless of dui^lications of 

 men and boats occasioned by their employment in more than one fish- 

 ery. Descriptive notes for all these branches were required wherever 

 changes in methods or conditions had occurred since the last inquiries, 

 and especially detailed notes were called for on the lobster and a few 

 other fisheries. 



Perhaps the most important of the fisheries the canvass of which 

 was .undertaken is the lobster fishery. In my previous report attention 

 was drawn to the great economic value of the lobster, to the very 

 serious reduction in its abundance in recent years, and to the general 

 interest taken in this fishery, whose condition affects a numerous 

 population. As complete a study of the subject was planned as could 

 properly be carried on by this division, and the collection of a very 

 valuable mass of information is anticipated by the time the inquiry is 

 completed. In addition to securing the usual statistical data for per- 

 sons, boats, apparatus, catch, etc., the attention of the field agents was 

 directed to the following topics for investigation and report : 



1. The changes in the methods of the lobster fishery since 1880 and in more recent 

 years. 



2. The fishing season as compared with other years; the reasons for an extension 

 or shortening of the season ; the extent and origin of the fishery during the winter 

 months. 



3. The extent of the fislierj'^ during the molting season ; the catch and destruction 

 of soft, unmarketable lobsters during that period. 



4. The depth of water and the distance from the land at which lobsters are now 

 taken as compared with earlier years. 



5. Comparison of the present and past average fjize of lobsters; the present limits 

 of size of marketable lobsters; the proportion of short lobsters to the total catch. 



6. Marked changes in abundance of lobsters in a given locality in recent years and 

 the apparent reasons therefor. 



7. The relation of the catch to the quantity and character of the apparatus used 

 and to the methods employed. 



8. A study of the laws in force and their apparent efi'ect on the size and abun- 

 dance of lobsters in a given locality ; the efliciency of their enforcement and the 

 extent of their observance. 



9. Consideration of the bait used in the lobster fishery — its source, nature, quan- 

 tity, and value, and the relative eflectiveness of different kinds. 



