Pioneering lobster aquaculture in Rhode Island

One of the pioneering agencies charged with managing Rhode Island’s fisheries resources was the Rhode Island Commission on Inland Fisheries (hereafter the RI Fish Commission or simply ‘the Commission’). The RI Fish Commission was formed as a sister agency of the Commission on Shellfisheries by an act of the General Assembly in 1869 to manage and enhance the state’s various fisheries, including freshwater trout and bass fisheries and the marine fisheries in Narragansett Bay and the coastal salt ponds. The Commission consisted of a minimum of five commissioners appointed by the General Assembly serving three-year terms. There were additional staff members in the employ of the Commission from time to time. The Commission was obliged to provide an annual report to the General Assembly in January. Early work of the