﻿Till 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  fish 
  in 
  our 
  w<aters 
  whose 
  decrease 
  has 
  been 
  

   more 
  marked 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Rock, 
  and 
  none 
  which 
  occupies 
  

   a 
  more 
  important 
  place 
  among 
  the 
  food-fishes. 
  Though 
  never 
  

   seen 
  in 
  our 
  markets 
  in 
  such 
  numbers 
  as 
  the 
  shad 
  and 
  herring, 
  

   they 
  are 
  in 
  season 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  year, 
  and 
  to 
  be 
  procured 
  

   almost 
  daily 
  in 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  abundance 
  in 
  our 
  principal 
  

   fish 
  depots. 
  Thriving 
  as 
  well 
  in 
  the 
  fresh 
  waters 
  of 
  our 
  riv- 
  

   ers 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  salt 
  water 
  of 
  the 
  sea, 
  or 
  the 
  brackish 
  water 
  of 
  bays 
  

   and 
  inlets, 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  almost 
  all 
  the 
  tidal 
  streams 
  of 
  

   the 
  State. 
  To 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  people, 
  therefore, 
  an 
  abun- 
  

   dant 
  supply 
  of 
  them 
  is 
  to 
  a 
  greater 
  extent, 
  perhaps, 
  than 
  of 
  

   any 
  other 
  fish, 
  an 
  important 
  desideratum. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  Commission 
  our 
  first 
  work 
  was 
  

   to 
  investigate 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  to 
  ascer- 
  

   tain 
  their 
  capacities 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  their 
  needs. 
  In 
  prosecuting 
  

   these 
  researches 
  we 
  were 
  enabled 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  col- 
  

   lection 
  of 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  ichthyology 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  and 
  to 
  

   discover 
  the 
  existence 
  in 
  our 
  waters 
  of 
  many 
  species 
  that 
  have 
  

   never 
  before 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  them, 
  and 
  of 
  others 
  that 
  were 
  new 
  

   even 
  to 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast. 
  

  

  In 
  our 
  report 
  of 
  January, 
  1S76, 
  we 
  published 
  a 
  descriptive 
  

   list 
  of 
  the 
  fishes 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  to 
  which 
  list 
  additions 
  were 
  

   made 
  in 
  two 
  subsequent 
  reports. 
  We 
  discovered, 
  last 
  year, 
  

   the 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  fish 
  not 
  included 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  

   lists 
  referred 
  to, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  before 
  known 
  to 
  visit 
  our 
  

   waters. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  investigations 
  above 
  mentioned, 
  our 
  labors 
  were 
  

   addressed 
  to 
  the 
  task 
  of 
  supplying 
  the 
  deficiencies 
  that 
  were 
  

   found 
  to 
  exist. 
  

  

  In 
  order 
  to 
  obtain 
  information 
  on 
  certain 
  important 
  points, 
  

   Col. 
  Hughlett, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Commissioners 
  for 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  

   Maryland, 
  addressed 
  circulars 
  containing 
  the 
  necessary 
  ques- 
  

   tions 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  persons 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  interested 
  in 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  on 
  the 
  Eastern 
  Shore. 
  The 
  answers, 
  in 
  full, 
  to 
  

   these 
  questions 
  received 
  up 
  to 
  January 
  1st, 
  1880, 
  are 
  here- 
  

   with 
  transmitted, 
  though 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  endorse 
  the 
  views 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  them. 
  

  

  Most 
  of 
  the 
  information 
  sought 
  in 
  these 
  interrogatories 
  will 
  

  

  