finest fishing shores in our State will be abandoned as unre- 

 munerative. 



The restoration of these fisheries, and the reproduction of 

 this large supply of fish food cannot be accomplished without 

 a steady and systematic course of procedure by this depart- 

 ment. 



During the first two years of our existence we were depen- 

 dent on the "Board of Oyster Police" for transportation, and 

 received material aid, as it kindly placed the steamer "Leila" 

 at our disposal when her use by us did not interfere with her 

 ordinary survice and duties ; but we found that at the time 

 when we most needed the steamer she was most busily en- 

 gaged, and that without detriment to the service for which 

 she was intended, we could not rely on her for assistance, nor 

 could we secure her services for a suiBficiently long period, to 

 make systematic investigations, or perform our duties contin- 

 uously. The "Leila" is of such deep draught that we were 

 oftentimes unable to get to those localities where our presence 

 was most needed. It was impossible to procure the services 

 of a suitable steamer by charter as those of light enough 

 draught to navigate in our rivers and estuaries of the bay, 

 are a class of river boats used for passengers and freight, and 

 require a large crew, and involve considerable running ex- 

 pense, greater than the appropriation would warrant for so 

 temporary a benefit. We, therefore, in pursuance of the 

 policy of securing the permanent efliciency of the Commission, 

 purchased the small steamer "Lookout," a vessel in all 

 respects adapted to the performance of the duties which 

 devolve upon us. 



By the use of this boat we were able to secure almost all 

 of the eggs that we gathered last season, and despite its 

 being so disastrous a one to the fisheries of the State, we 

 hatched four million six hundred and two thousand Shad. 



In future, having the steamer "Lookout," we will be able 

 to move quickly from one fishery to another, gathering the 

 pjpawn from the ripe fish as the large seines are landed ,* 



