REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 83 
agencies may be fully utilized and opportunity be afforded for ex- 
tending the scope and increasing the usefulness of the various activ- 
ities of the Bureau. A very substantial increase in the appropriation 
for the maintenance of vessels is imperative, so that costly vessel 
property may not be forced to remain idle when much important 
work should be done. The case of the Albatross in the year 1914-15 
may be cited, but the conditions then were not peculiar, only exag- 
gerated. This vessel, with a crew of 85 officers and men, was laid up 
during about three-fourths of the year, when less than $10,000 would 
have enabled the Department to keep her in service and make needed 
investigations during the time when the pay of the naval crew and 
other permanent charges against the vessel exceeded $30,000. 
The welfare of the lobster industry demands at the hands of the 
Federal Government the immediate rendering of the most effective 
form of assistance that can be extended to the States. Experience 
and investigation have amply demonstrated that the mere hatching 
and planting of the lobster fry is inadequate to maintain the supply 
in the face of an increasing demand, inharmonious laws not con- 
sistently enforced or generally respected by the fishermen, and the 
strong inducement to violation of law occasioned by the high prices. 
There are a genuine need and a legitimate public demand for lob- 
ster rearing as a supplement to or substitute for the present opera- 
tions of the lobster hatcheries, and an item for a rearing plant has 
been included in the Bureau’s estimates of appropriations for the 
next fiscal year. 
Representations made in former years regarding the need for a 
new building with ample laboratory and aquarium facilities are 
strongly renewed. 
Respectfully, H. M. Soir, 
Commissioner. 
To Hon. Wriu1am C. Reprrexp, 
Secretary of Commerce. 
