214 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHEEIES. 



dith, while in autumn they are caught at Bonnet Point and Boston Neck 

 Point (mouth of bay) several days after the supply fails at Point Judith. 



"I believe that the traps capture in spring nearly the whole supply 

 that remained in the bay during the winter previous, besides destroying 

 the increase ; that in consequence comparatively none are left to supply 

 our waters, while, as I have said, west of Point Judith (trapping being 

 not followed in the bays, &c, of Long Island Sound) those waters are 

 abundantly supplied. 



" Facts. — During the past and previous seasons, the fishermen who 

 have supplied the market at Narraganset Pier with tautog could not 

 earn their salt east of Point Judith, while by going from six to twenty 

 miles west of Point Judith (as far as yet ascertained the farther the 

 better) they could and have caught as many tautog as they wanted. 



"If 'scup' were entirely out of the question, this state of things ought 

 of itself, as it seems to me, to be enough to warrant the interference of 

 the legislature. 



"E. C. CLARKE. 



"P. S. — If nature has appointed bounds beyond which, in the matter 

 of increase, fish cannot pass, and has appointed and supplied for every 

 species their natural enemies, which, governed by laws of appetite not 

 to be controlled, are still in effective operation ; and if their natural ene- 

 mies and diseases, to which every species is subject, are of themselves 

 sufficient to hold each species in check and within the proper limits, why, 

 I ask, will not such wholesale destruction, in addition to natural causes 

 and at the very moment, effectively destroy the parent fish and the 

 whole prospective increase ? Why, I say, will not all, together, dimin- 

 ish their numbers 1 



"If traps, in destroying scup and other fish', would but destroy their 

 enemies, and annihilate the diseases to which fish fit for food are sub- 

 ject, then, and in that case, there might be some doubts in this question ; 

 as it is, there cannot be. 



"Your point on the vent closing and non-feeding of tautog at certain 

 seasons, and its application to scup, in proof that scup, like tautog, are 

 not wanderers, is a new one, but, in my opinion, exceedingly good. I 

 don't believe the Tallmans can shake it. Had I the time I would wish, 

 I would say much more, but (meaning no flattery) I consider your argu- 

 ment a good and strong one. 



"E. C. C." 



With regard to the appearance of small scup in our bay and rivers 

 last season, I am not prepared to give a decided opinion. I think that 

 their appearance does not, nor will, affect any of the conclusions set 

 forth, nor show that scup are going to be more plenty in our rivers than 

 before. 



I believe that they were spawned close on the coast, and afterward, 

 in purveying for food, aspreviously stated by Mr. Scott, and for pro- 

 tection, came up into the bay, and remained there during the warm 

 weather. Whether they were spawned in March, or in the previous fall, 

 cannot be proved. From the fact that March was unusually warm, I 

 am inclined to believe the former was the case. 



One of the reasons why I believe scup are not going to be any more 

 plenty is that they will follow the same road into the bay (up Seaconnet 

 Piver) as their ancestors, and will be taken in the traps ; for it has 

 been stated that this last season the traps at one time appeared to be 

 full of scup, and, upon drawing them, it was found that they were small 



