ON INLAND FISHEKIES. O 



to appoint deputies who should have supervision of certain parts of 

 the bay shores inchided in the act. 



Capt. Samuel Place, of Warren, R. I., was appointed to attend at 

 Seaconiiet Point during the season of trap fishing and to supervise 

 the heart nets, or pounds in the eastern waters of ^the" bay, Bristol 

 harbor, &c. 



S. R. Vaughn, of Wickford, to look after the heart nets in the west 

 passage, and Wilson D. Wilcox, of Warwick, to attend the traps at 

 the south side of the Island of Rhode Island, and the heart nets in 

 the vicinity. t 



We were very fortunate in the selection of these gentlemen and they 

 performed their duties and carried out their instructions with the 

 utmost fidelity. 



We will consider first the trap fishing for scup carried on at Seacon- 

 net Point, and the south side of the Island of Rhode Island, and con- 

 tinuing (this season) from May 10th to June 20th. As will be seen by 

 the map Ko. 3 attached to this report, there were at Seaconnet Point 

 seven traps extending from just below Church's Point on the north, 

 to West Island on the south, a distance of about three miles. Sea- 

 connet Point for the past twenty years or more has been favored with 

 the presence of trap fishermen and more than any other locality 

 attracted the attention of the public interested in fisheries. 



During all these years it would doubtless surprise the fishermen 

 themselves if it could be known how many thousands of barrels of 

 scup have been taken, but it never will be ascertained, and in the 

 future when it is to be hoped a strict supervision may be had over 

 them it will be impossible to estimate the catch save in the manner to 

 be hereafter suggested. When the collection of these sort of statistics 

 is dependent on the information to be obtained from fishermen, and 

 said fishermen imagine that their interests are at stake, it will at 

 times be found that their statements clash (not to use a stronger ex- 

 pression) with the exact truth. 



The Commissioners visited Seaconnet several times during the sea- 

 son of scup fishing, and Capt. Place was on hand during the close 

 days while the season lasted. We were heartily received by the fisher- 



