23 -HISTORY AND METHODS OF WHITEFISH. CULTURE. 



BY FRANK N. CLARK, 

 Superintendent of U. S. Fish Commission Station at Northville, Michigan. 



The history of fish-culture is claimiug the public attention as never before. .From 

 earliest time the art has been rife among' all peoples, even among the more rude and 

 uncivilized. We read of the fisheries of Byzantium, old Constantinople, that were 

 both lucrative and extensive. The fisheries of Rome in the vicinity of Sicily and in 

 the Carpathian Sea and those of the ancient Egyptian inland lakes are all of historical 

 interest. Egyptian fisheries were protected by the most stringent laws. The revenues 

 of the fisheries of Lake Maerie amounted to more than $500,000 annually, which 

 is evidence of their extent. Early in the ninth century laws went into effect in 

 western Europe touching the immense European fisheries. But while fish have been 

 used as an article of food since the dawn of the race, pisciculture never reached its 

 practical and scientific position till more recent years. 



The Chinese practiced the art of rearing and fattening fish in confined bodies of 

 water, by placing twigs in the water during the spawning time of carp and removing 

 them when covered with the spawn. The Romans followed a like method, while the 

 Egyptian pictorial relics show a similar custom, a large vivary being built and main- 

 tained for the purpose of growing fish for table use and religious sacrifice. The his- 

 torian of ancient Rome tells us of the extensive and complete fish ponds of the Romans. 

 The Roman Ilortensius was more concerned about his mullet than his men, and his 

 fish servants were for number almost countless. He employed sailors to procure food 

 for them, and when the weather prevented the tars from leaving port in search of fish 

 food, butchers and provision dealers would bid for supplying the fish with provender. 

 His head man, or " uomen-clator," not only gave a name to each individual fish, but 

 taught them to "wag their tails, fawn like dogs, and permit themselves to be scratched 

 and clawed," when exhibited to visitors. There is much fable concerning the affection 

 of the Romans for individual fishes, but the fact that they were successfully reared is 

 well established. This, briefly, is the general character of ancient fish-culture. It did 

 not include what the cnlturist of to-day considers the most skillful item of his work — 

 the taking of the eggs from the female fish, impregnating, and hatching them. 



As early as 1741 Stephen Ludwig Jacobi, a young German, discovered this art and 

 successfully practiced it years before making it public. Since then, with various 

 changes and improvements in methods, it has been in vogue in different countries, but 

 nowhere has larger success been obtained than in the United States. When in 1880 

 the International Fishery Exhibition occurred in Berlin, which was one of the most 

 notable events in fish-cultural history, the grand prize was awarded this country for 

 the best collection illustrating the fisheries, while the United States captured six out 

 of ten gold medals awarded, Germany securing three, and Russia the remaining one. 



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