448 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



and fed in the hatching-house too long after the yolk-bag 

 was absorbed to give them that shyness which their safe- 

 ty required, while they were not kept long enough to pass 

 through the period when any cyprinoid could readily devour 

 them. 



The present Commissioners are, however, of the opinion 

 that all the streams heretofore inhabited by salmon can be 

 restocked by this fish, especially if suitable fish-ways are 

 constructed in the dams upon the rivers. A portion of the 

 report is occupied by a statement connected with the con- 

 struction of fish-ways at the dams on the Connecticut River, 

 which at present prevent the upward passage of the fish to 

 Vermont. They express the hope that, before long, legal ac- 

 tion will be taken which will result in the removal of the 

 obstructions. 



They also report an experiment of introducing shad into 

 the waters of Lake Champlain, fifty thousand young ones 

 from Seth Green's establishment on the Hudson having been 

 placed in Burlington Bay. As the same number had been 

 deposited by Mr. Green, on behalf of New York, at White- 

 hall, near the head of the lake, about the same time, it is 

 thought that these 100,000 young fish may serve as a satis- 

 factory basis for this experiment. 



In conclusion, the Commissioners recommend to the Legis- 

 lature first, the passage of laws for preventing the capture 

 of any kind offish during the spawning season, with the ex- 

 ception (and that under proper restrictions) of such fish as 

 shad and salmon, which come into the waters of the state at 

 the spawning season only ; second, that the possessor of fish 

 taken in the prohibited season be subject to the same penal- 

 ty as the person capturing them ; third, that fish-wardens be 

 appointed, with proper authority ; fourth, that the Legisla- 

 ture shall properly define and guard the rights of private 

 property in fish and fisheries ; fifth, that laws shall be enact- 

 ed to compel all persons who build dams to provide them 

 with suitable fish-ways. These, the most important of the 

 recommendations, are supplemented by others looking to the 

 same object namely, the increase and maintenance in prop- 

 er number of the more valuable food fishes of the state. 



