﻿EEPOET 
  OF 
  THE 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISHERIES. 
  75' 
  

  

  transaction 
  of 
  business 
  and 
  retard 
  development 
  along 
  several 
  impor- 
  

   tant 
  lines. 
  Whether 
  or 
  not 
  the 
  Bureau 
  is 
  provided 
  with 
  administra- 
  

   tive 
  offices 
  in 
  a 
  general 
  department 
  building 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  special 
  struc- 
  

   ture 
  in 
  close 
  proximity 
  to 
  the 
  parent 
  headquarters 
  is 
  immaterial. 
  

   There 
  are 
  urgently 
  needed, 
  however, 
  pecuUar 
  laboratory 
  accommo- 
  

   ations, 
  a 
  model 
  hatchery 
  equipment, 
  and 
  aquarium 
  faciUties 
  wliich 
  

   can 
  not 
  be 
  afforded 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  department 
  building; 
  and 
  incidental 
  

   thereto 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  provided 
  a 
  national 
  aquarium, 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  

   maintained 
  at 
  minimum 
  cost 
  as 
  an 
  essential 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  experimental 
  

   work 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  water 
  animals 
  and 
  of 
  fish-culture 
  

   methods. 
  

  

  A 
  LOBSTEK-REARING 
  PLANT. 
  

  

  More 
  than 
  10 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  Bureau, 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  a 
  special 
  ap- 
  

   propriation 
  from 
  Congress, 
  devised 
  and 
  carried 
  to 
  a 
  successful 
  stage 
  

   of 
  perfection 
  a 
  feasible 
  method 
  of 
  rearing 
  lobsters. 
  This 
  work 
  was 
  

   undertaken 
  in 
  the 
  well-founded 
  belief 
  that 
  lobster 
  culture 
  would 
  and 
  

   should 
  be 
  made 
  more 
  effective 
  by 
  carrying 
  the 
  newly 
  hatched 
  young 
  

   beyond 
  the 
  helpless 
  free-swimming 
  age 
  to 
  the 
  point 
  where 
  they 
  de- 
  

   velop 
  their 
  crushing 
  claws, 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  bottom, 
  and 
  assume 
  the 
  form 
  

   and 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  adults. 
  

  

  The 
  Government 
  has 
  never 
  made 
  any 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  laiowledge 
  thus 
  

   acquired, 
  but 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  Rhode 
  Island, 
  continuing 
  the 
  experimental 
  

   work, 
  has 
  achieved 
  marked 
  success 
  and 
  has 
  demonstrated 
  the 
  prac- 
  

   ticality 
  of 
  the 
  method 
  when 
  employed 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale. 
  

  

  As 
  an 
  aid 
  to 
  an 
  industry 
  that 
  is 
  m 
  a 
  critical 
  state, 
  it 
  is 
  recommended 
  

   that 
  Congress 
  be 
  asked 
  to 
  provide 
  for 
  a 
  lobster-rearing 
  station, 
  cither 
  

   as 
  an 
  independent 
  plant 
  or 
  as 
  an 
  adjunct 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  existing 
  marine 
  

   hatcheries 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau. 
  For 
  this 
  purpose 
  a 
  sum 
  not 
  exceeding^ 
  

   $20,000 
  would 
  be 
  required 
  for 
  construction 
  and 
  for 
  operating 
  expenses 
  

   for 
  one 
  year. 
  No 
  facilities 
  for 
  holding 
  and 
  rearmg 
  young 
  lobsters 
  

   now 
  exist 
  at 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  established 
  stations. 
  

  

  STATE 
  COOPERATION. 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  increasing 
  activity 
  in 
  all 
  branches 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  there 
  

   exists 
  increasing 
  need 
  for 
  active 
  cooperative 
  endeavor 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  States 
  to 
  make 
  more 
  effective 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  artificial 
  propagation 
  

   as 
  carried 
  on 
  under 
  Federal 
  and 
  State 
  auspices. 
  There 
  can 
  bo 
  no 
  

   question 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  such 
  work 
  is 
  now 
  rendered 
  entirely 
  

   futile 
  by 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  cooperation 
  or 
  the 
  total 
  indifference 
  of 
  the 
  States. 
  

   Attention 
  is 
  drawn 
  elsewhere 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  damage 
  that 
  is 
  being- 
  

   done 
  to 
  the 
  shad 
  and 
  alewife 
  fisheries 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  by 
  failure 
  

   to 
  enact 
  and 
  enforce 
  suitable 
  protective 
  laws. 
  Tlie 
  cases 
  of 
  other 
  

   fisheries 
  similarly 
  neglected 
  might 
  be 
  cited. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  well 
  bo 
  questioned 
  whether 
  the 
  Bureau 
  is 
  justified 
  in 
  spend- 
  

   mg 
  money 
  in 
  behalf 
  of 
  the 
  artificial 
  propagation 
  of 
  certain 
  fishes 
  in. 
  

  

  