XXII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



It is to be hoped tbat public opiuion will be gradually led up to the 

 necessity of action of the kind referred to, and that year by year a con- 

 tinued increase in the fisheries will be manifested. Even if this does 

 not occur as rapidly as some may hope, the experiments so far furnish 

 the strongest arguments in ftivor of continuing the work for a reason- 

 able time. A diminution that has been going on for fifty or more years 

 is not to be overcome in ten, in view of the increasing obstacles already 

 referred to. 



Among the species the increase of which in their appropriate places 

 and seasons is to be hoped for, in addition to those now occupying the 

 attention of fishculturists, are the cod, the halibut, the common mack- 

 erel, the Spanish mackerel, the striiied bass or rock-fish, etc. 



One of the most important and at the same time among the most 

 promising fish is the California trout, with which it is hoped to stock 

 large areas of the country. Its special commendations will be found 

 mentioned elsewhere. 



Another fishery earnestly calling for assistance, and capable of re- 

 ceiving it, is that of the lobster, the decrease of which has been very 

 marked. The experiments of the Fish Commission suggest methods 

 by which the number can be greatly increased. Something, too, may be 

 done with the common crab of the Atlantic coast and its transfer to the 

 Pacific. Some kind might also be advantageously brought to the east- 

 ern portion of the United States from the Pacific coast and from the 

 European seas. 



A subject of as much importance as any other that now occupies the 

 attention of the Fish Commission is an increase in the supply of oys- 

 ters. In no department of the American fisheries has there been so 

 rapid and alarming a decrease, and the boasted abundance of this mol- 

 lusk on the Atlantic coast, especially in Chesapeake Bay, is rapidly 

 being changed to a condition of scarcity, which threatens practical exter- 

 mination, as is almost the case in England. A fishing industry pro- 

 ducing millions of dollars is menaced with extinction, and needs the 

 most stringent measures for its protection. 



The United States Fish Commission has been very fortunate, through 

 its agents and assistants, in making important discoveries in connection 

 with the propagation of the oyster, which are to be referred to hereafter; 

 and it is proposed to establish several experimental stations for apply- 

 ing the discoveries thus made, so as to constitute a school of instruction 

 and information to persons practically engaged in the business. 



There are other shell-fish besides the oyster that will well repay the 

 trouble of transplantation and multiplication. Among these are sev- 

 eral species of clams l)elonging to the Pacific coast of the United States, 

 which are much superior in size, in tenderness, and in excellence of flavor 

 to those on the Eastern coast. Most of these are natives of Puget Sound, 

 and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway is looked forward 

 to as a convenient means of transferring them to Eastern wateis. The 



