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14 



the taking of salmon be prohibited by law from the first of August to 

 the first of November. It should be observed that the having in pos- 

 session, or off'ering for sale of salmon, during the close term so pro- 

 hibited, should be punished the same as the taking of them. 



In conclusion, your Commissioners, with much diffidence, would ask 

 the aid of the Legislature for the means of carrying on the work which 

 thej^ feel they have just commenced. There will be necessary, for the 

 coming season, funds to erect hatching houses at such stations as shall 

 have been discovered as the spawning grounds of the shad, now soon 

 to be expected in our waters. The renewal of our efi'ort to bring fish 

 and lobsters across the continent, so nearly successful last year, is an 

 earnest wish of the Commission. Our work at large remains unfinished 

 at the time that we are best qualified to prosecute it. The amount of 

 appropriation necessary to carry the Commission over to the next session 

 of the Legislature is not large, and, when we consider the object to be 

 attained, we feel that we may safely ask for a moderate sum, without 

 laying a very heavy additional burden upon the people. The money 

 already expended is but a trifle compared with the benefits to be derived 

 from a like expenditure in the immediate future. 



When we entered tfpon the duties of our office, the whole subject of 

 fish breeding had but lately been entertained on this coast. The ground 

 was new, and the field of operations opened to the Commission covered 

 a large extent of country and mai'ked varieties of clin)ate. We have 

 been compelled to educate ourselves to the work in hand, and to move 

 as cautiously and economically as possible. We are willing to admit 

 that we take great interest in the continuance of our operations; we 

 know that we have learned a great deal about fish culture that will be 

 useful to the State. We believe that we are now on the road to success. 

 We are willing to give our time to it, and perhaps it is not amiss for us 

 to make this report the means of saying that, which may not be gen- 

 erally known, our services are without charge of any kind to the State. 

 We have no individual interests to subserve, and we only ask aid from 

 the State in order that we may serve her, and carry out to completion 

 the objects for which this Commission was created. 



