THE COMMISSION OF FISH 'AND FISHERIES 427 



the danger of the loss of the fishes which supply sport to 

 the angler; depopulated trout streams, and the vanished 

 salmon of the Maine rivers, furnished a terrible example 

 which could not be ignored. Seth Green and others had 

 already inaugurated the hatching of spawn and stocking 

 private preserves and some public streams with trout 

 which could be raised from the spawn and kept safe from 

 the dangers which beset the young fry under natural 

 conditions, until they were old enough to look out for 

 their own safety. 



The Association was successful in urging the addition 

 to the functions of the Commission (in 1872) the task 

 of establishing hatcheries, especially for the fresh water 

 fishes. To this Baird afterward added similar facilities 

 for the marine forms, a quite new departure. This added 

 work had magnificent results. The inshore cod-fishery 

 of New England was measurably restored. The shad 

 was transferred successfully to the Pacific coast, where 

 it has so greatly flourished as to become a market staple. 

 Salmon eggs were transported overseas to New Zealand; 

 and the rate of destruction of the Potomac fisheries was 

 checked. On the Pacific Coast the almost exhausted 

 salmon fisheries of the more southern districts were re- 

 populated by the establishment of hatcheries. 



The less favorable side of the matter lay in the fact 

 that a hatchery meant the expenditure of Government 

 money, and the demand for one from Congressional dis- 

 tricts where the waters were suitable only for carp and 

 catfish was as vociferous as if they were the normal 

 habitat of trout and bass. The only marked failure of 

 the operations of the Commission was in the attempt to 

 transfer to the depleted Eastern rivers the salmon of the 

 Pacific Coast. Many millions of young salmon were 



