SE Or CONNEC Pie bile 
REPORT. 
To his Excellency the Governor and the General Assembly of the 
State of Connecticut : 
The Commissioners of Shell Fisheries respectfully submit the 
following report of their official acts for the period beginning 
with July 1, 1885, and ending with October 30, 1886. 
The work of the Commissioners has been prosecuted on the 
water and in the office with such expedition as was consistent 
with its required accuracy and completeness. Full details of the 
several divisions of the work accomplished are set forth under 
their respective heads. 
ENGINEERING. 
The engineering department was continued under the capable 
supervision of Mr. James P. Bogart, assisted by Mr. D.C. Sanford, 
until August 31, 1886; and by Mr. R. G. Pike, Jr., until November 
1, 1885. During the warm months of 1885 Messrs. Sanford and 
Pike were engaged in completing the surveys of lots as claimed and 
occupied,—in buoying and mapping the occupations—in survey- 
ing and buoying new applications and designations—and in 
making surveys necessary to the settlement of disputed boundary 
lines. They also collected much valuable information about the 
condition, character, and value of oyster grounds with reference 
to their assessment for taxes. 
During the Spring of 1886 Engineer Sanford inspected and 
repaired all the signal stations along the shore of the State. It is 
worthy of note that these structures, most of them remote from 
dwellings, but conspicuous on the shore, have escaped mutilation 
and depredation since the law for their especial protection was 
enacted. 
