REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XLV 



As the total cost of nets used at the present time ou the New Eug- 

 land coast amounts to about $40,000 for the winter, the tax upon i^ro- 

 duction is a very serious one. Various processes for the treatment of 

 nets have lately been indicated and are now employed by the fisher- 

 men, some of them with apparent success, and it is to be hoped that 

 the difficulty in question ^vill soon disappear. 



21. — INVESTIGATION OF THE OYSTER FISHERIES OF THE NEW YORK 



Vi^ATERS, 



Investigations of the condition and availability of the oyster-beds of 

 the State of New York have been in progress for some years under the 

 direction of Mr. E. G. Blackford, one of its fish commissioners, and at 

 his request the steamer Lookout was detailed for use in his explora- 

 tions. The vessel was occupied for nearly two weeks in September in 

 this connection, and the general results will shortly be published by 

 Mr. Blackford in the reports of the State fish commission. 



22. — LAW OF CONGRESS IN REGARD TO THE FISHERIES OF THE 

 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



The rapid decrease in the value of the fisheries of the Potomac 

 Eiver, especiallj^ of the shad, has induced some public-spirited citizens 

 of Washington to take up the subject with a view of getting such Con- 

 gressional legislation as might be necessary to secure the requisite 

 measure of protection ; and, after considerable debate, a law was passed 

 which makes it illegal to use any form of net in the Potomac Eiver 

 within the District of Columbia for five years after the passage of the 

 act. 



Chap. 316.— AN ACT to protect the fish in the Potomac River in the District of Golumhia, and to 

 provide a spawning ground for shad and herring in the said Potomac Eiver. 



Be it enacted hi/ the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 

 171 Congress assembled, That from and after date of passage of this act, for a term of 

 five years, it sliall not be lawful to fish with fyke-nct, pound-net, stake-net, weir, 

 lloat-net, gill-net, haul-seine, or any other contrivauce, stationary or floating, in the 

 waters of the Potomac River within the District of Columbia. 



Sec. 2. That any iierson who shall offend against any of the provisions of this act 

 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon sufficient proof thereof in the 

 police court or other court of the District of Columbia, shall be punished by a 

 fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each and 

 every such ofi"ense, and shall forfeit to the District his nets, boats, and all other ai>- 

 paratus and appliances used in violation of law, which shall be sold, and the proceeds 

 of such sales, and all fines accruing under this act, shall be paid into the Treasury: 

 Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit angling or fishing 

 with the out-line, or to prevent the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 

 or his agents, from taking from said waters of the Potomac River, in the District of 

 Columbia, in any manner desired, fish of any kind for scientific purposes, or for the 

 purposes of propagation. 



Sec. 3. That from and after three months from the date of the passage of this act 

 it shall be unlawful to allow any tar, oil, ammoniacal liquor, or other waste products 



