13 
Commission of Fish and Fisheries, just published, 
Commissioner G. M. Bowers states, ‘‘ Our leading fishery 
product, the oyster, worth about $14,000,000 annually, is 
readily susceptible of increase by methods of cultivation, 
and each season shows a larger proportion of the market- 
able output taken from planted grounds, thus insuring a 
permanent and increasing supply.” He states further 
that while the natural supply of oysters is surely becoming 
exhausted, the areas of the sea-bottom which are being 
artificially cultivated are becoming more and more pro- 
ductive, and certain States which have adopted * advanced 
cultural methods” are “reaping important pecuniary 
returns.” 
Then again, “There is unmistakable evidence of an 
increased abundance of Cod in the inshore waters along 
the entire coast from Maine to New Jersey. This may, 
without hesitation, be attributed principally to the work 
of artificial propagation centering at the stations of the 
Commission at Gloucester and Woods Hole.” 
The Commissioner urges that new work should be 
undertaken for increasing the lobster supply by artificial 
propagation. He states:——‘‘ During the past five years 
over 500,000,000 young lobsters have been artificially 
hatched by the Commission and planted on the East 
Coast. As practically all the eggs from which these were 
produced would have been destroyed had not the Com- 
mission purchased the egg-bearing adults from the fisher- 
men, it can hardly be doubted that these operations have 
had a decided influence on the supply, but they have not 
as vet seemed to arrest the decline, in the face of over- 
fishing and the destruction of short lobsters and brood 
lobsters carrying eggs.” I have had an interesting letter 
from Professor H. C. Bumpus, who has charge of the 
work at Woods Hole, telling of the details of the methods 
