J. PISCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 413 



the kind in the world. In this great numbers of trout, sal- 

 mon-trout, whitefish, and other species have been hatched and 

 distributed very generally throughout the state. About three 

 thousand young salmon were hatched at the state establish- 

 ment, and offered to any parties who would take charge of 

 them, but no application was made for them. As the period 

 for which the Fish Commission was established lapsed with 

 the year 1871, it is very much to be desired that it should be 

 renewed, with funds sufficient to enable them to continue 

 their well-directed labors in the interest of the people of the 

 state. 



SECOND EEPORT OF NEW JERSEY FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



The second annual report of the Commissioners of Fisher- 

 ies for the State of New Jersey has just appeared, and exhib- 

 its evidence of much care and research on the part of these 

 officers. The' history of the shad and herring season is de- 

 tailed, and important suggestions for the future improvement 

 of the fisheries indicated. 



From this report it appears that the action of New Jersey 

 in regard to establishing suitable regulations is very much 

 impeded by the refusal of Pennsylvania to concur in reference 

 to the Delaware River; and until something of this kind can 

 be done, it is almost impossible to expect that full measure 

 of restoration of the fishery interest that has attended the 

 labors of the fishery commissioners of Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut. The shad and herring season of 1871 in both 

 the Delaware and Raritan is stated in the report to have 

 been even less remunerative than that of 1870, the catch of 

 herring being especially limited. One of the principal causes 

 of injury to the young fry of the shad is stated by the New 

 Jersey commissioners, and by Colonel Worrall, the commis- 

 sioner of Pennsylvania, to be the practice of setting fish-bas- 

 kets in the streams. As the fish return in the summer or 

 autumn to the salt-water during the low stage of the rivers, 

 the fish are obliged to pass over these baskets or through 

 their slats ; and as it is well known that the loss of only a 

 few scales will cause the ultimate death of the shad, we can 

 readily understand how much injury they experience, in view 

 of the fact that their scales become detached at a slight 

 touch. B.eport. 



