FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 5 5 



Annaat Report of ff)e C3f)eUfisf) Com- 

 missioner of tlje CStafe of 

 Nev <Iorfy 



To fl)e Commissioners of Pineries, Game and Forests : 



GENTLEMEN : I was appointed Commissioner of Fisheries, Game and Forests on 

 the 25th day of April, 1895, and at the meeting of the Commissioners held on that 

 date was designated Shellfish Commissioner. The law under which the Commissioners 

 of Fisheries, Game and Forests were appointed provides that the Commissioners shall 

 designate one of their number to be Shellfish Commissioner, and that such Shell- 

 fish Commissioner should have charge of that part of the work of the Commission 

 which relates to the granting of franchises in lands under water for the purposes 

 of shellfish cultivation and the protection of shellfish interests. To this work I was 

 assigned, as I had considerable experience in the cultivation of shellfish and was 

 familiar with the work. The original act, passed for the encouragement of the 

 shellfish industry of the State in 1886, provided that one of the Commissioners of 

 Fisheries should be a practical oysterman ; but the act under which the present 

 Commissioners were appointed contains no special requirements, and the Governor 

 was not limited in his choice of its members. Immediately after my appointment 

 I entered upon the duties of my office, and assumed charge of the rooms at 

 53 Broadway, New York, of the late Board of Commissioners of Fisheries, as all 

 the records of that Commission which were of value or importance to the shell- 

 fish work of the State were there. The maps and engineering data and surveying 

 instruments of that Commission were also in their New York office. This office 

 was later designated by your body as the office of the Shellfish Commissioner. It 

 is perhaps well to state here that while I assumed charge of this office and of the 

 books, maps and instruments relating to the shellfish work of the old Commission, 

 no formal transfer of such property was ever made by that Commission to me. 

 Important matters were brought to my attention relating to my department as soon 

 as I became Commissioner, and it was necessary for me to immediately commence 

 my work. A dispute of great importance, as to certain planted beds of oysters 

 at or near Matinnecock Point, Long Island Sound, was pending, and as actual hos- 



