REPORT. 



To the Honorable General AssemUy : 



The Commissioners of Inland Fisheries beg leave to present their 

 annual report for the year 1881: 



BAY FISHERIES. 



At the January, 1881, session of the General Assembly, it was en- 

 acted as follows: 



CHAPTER 865. 



"An Act in Amendment of Chapter 751, of the Public Laws, entitled 'An Act in 

 Amendment of Chapter 134 of the General Statutes' of Certain Fisheries." 



Section 1. Section 1 of Chapter 751 of the Public Laws is hereby amended 

 so as to read as follows: 



" Section 1. There shall be between the first day of May and the first day of 

 August in each year, a weekly close-time, extending from Saturday morning 

 at sunrise to Monday morning at sunrise, during which time no fish of any de- 

 scription shall be taken by weirs, traps or similar contrivances, from any of the 

 waters of the coast line of the State and Narragansett Bay. If there be any 

 weir, trap or other stationary contrivances used for the purpose of catching, or ob- 

 structing the passage of fish, in that part thereof where the fish are usually taken, 

 the netting at the mouth of the same shall be floated to the surface of the water, 

 so as to effectually close the mouth thereof during the weekly close-time, so that 

 during said time the fish may have a free, unobstructed passage; and no device 

 shall be placed in any part of said limits which shall tend to hinder such fish 

 from running up the waters of such river. In case the enclosure where the fish 

 are taken is furnished with a board floor, an opening three feet wide shall be 

 made extending from the floor to the top of the weir, trap or other contrivance: 

 Provided, however, that nothing herein shall be so construed as to apply to the 

 shad and herring fisheries in the tributaries of Narragansett Bay. 



