8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



cessive fishing at the mouths and in the lower waters of streams, 

 which prevents so Lirge a proportion of the fish from reaching the 

 spawning grounds, thus curtailing the Bureau's hatchery work as 

 well as interfering with natural reproduction; and this condition, 

 coupled with the doubtful practicability of artificial propagation in 

 any case, leads to the conclusion that in the Atlantic Coast States the 

 need of the striped bass is protective legislation. It may be said, 

 indeed, that the future of this fishery is largely dependent upon the 

 protection accorded the spawning fish. 



Acclimatization of the lobster on the Pacific coast. — Efforts to 

 establish the eastern lobster on the Pacific coast of the United States 

 have been continued, and much the largest plant of adult lobsters 

 ever attempted has been made in the waters of Puget Sound. In 

 November, 1907, a carload lot of lobsters in charge of a special attend- 

 ant was taken from the Atlantic coast to Seattle, the lobsters packed 

 in wet seaweed, held in shallow trays, and kept at a low temperature 

 en route. There was only a small loss m transit, and 1,011 fully 

 grown lobsters, 470 being egg-bearing, were safely deposited on 

 suitable bottom about the San Juan Islands. 



Some results of fish-culture. — Results of the propagation of white- 

 fish in the Great Lakes, particularly in Lake Erie, have been unmis- 

 takably evident during the past year, and the commercial fishermen 

 unanimously credit the abundance of fish to the work of the hatcher- 

 ies; the catch during 1907 and the first half of 1908 was larger than 

 in any equal period for fully twenty years. The numerous and long 

 unrewarded attempts to acclimatize the chinook salmon in New Eng- 

 land waters have borne their first noteworthy fruit in Sunapee Lake, 

 New Hampshire, where many of these fish have recently been cap- 

 tured and identified. AVhether this valuable species will succeed in 

 establishing itself in this lake remains to be seen. Fishermen all 

 along the New England coast report a remarkable increase in the 

 abundance of lobsters; this is shown by a larger catch and a reduc- 

 tion in the price paid by consumers, and is believed to be the outcome 

 of the largely increased plants of fry during the past few years. 



SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 



PEARL-MUSSEL INV^ESTIGATIONS. 



An important biological investigation during the past year has 

 been addressed to the distribution and habits of pearly mussels in the 

 Mississippi Valley and to experiments in mussel culture. The pearl- 

 button industry of the United States has an invested capital of 

 $2,000,000 and produces an annual output valued at about $6,000,000, 

 but the supply of fresh-water mussels which constitute its raw ma- 

 terial is becoming rapidly exhausted, and the industry will eventually 

 cease to exist unless relief is afforded. The Bureau is now endeavoring 

 to locate all possible sources of supply and to determine the es^tent of 

 the depletion which has occurred, is making studies of the habits of the 

 mussel in order to recommend necessary regulation of the fishery, and 

 is experimenting in artificial propagation. The culture experiments 

 have been successful almost from the beginning, and the work is even 

 now being conducted on a scale promising practical results. Con- 

 gress, moreover, at the solicitation of the pearl-button interests and 



