304 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



also see serious competitors of our pond fish iu the cheap salmon and 

 trout which fish culture is expected to bring into tlie market, and which 

 would in future relegate our carp to the place which at present is oc- 

 cupied by the smelt. 



But as yet we are not afraid. Anyone who, like myself, counts bis 

 carp twice every year, and who keeps a strict account of his ponds and 

 their inmates, who, therefore, can, even before the fish are ready for the 

 market, ascertain with tolerable accuracy what his losses will be, and 

 who knows that a few pike may destroy a large stock of young carp fry 

 in five or six months, will feel sorry for the millions of young try which, 

 hardly hatched, must, in all open waters, without fail, soon become a 

 prey to fish-of-prey. 



I believe that if half the money which at the present time is spent on 

 hatching fish-eggs would be used for placing the young fish in ponds 

 absolutely tree from fish-of-prey, even if only for one year, so that they 

 could reach a greater age by the time they are placed in open waters, 

 there would be a possibility of seeing again some of these salmon in a 

 condition to fit them for the table. But as things are managed now it 

 is hardly possible that future fish harvests will pay for the present ex- 

 pense; even if here and there some specimens of the choicer kinds of 

 are caught, this must be considered a very poor result of the stocking 

 of the open waters with millions of young fry. 



It requires a certain amount of moral courage for a man to state pub- 

 licly that he does not believe iu the stocking of our lakes and rivers 

 with fine fish by means of placing in such open waters fish of a tender 

 age which still need a good deal of protection. But I feel constrained 

 here to make this very statement. 



Our fishery legislation, moreover, extends but little aid to the earnest 

 pisciculturist in his endeavors to stock open waters with fish. He 

 sows, but others reap the harvest ; with great trouble he hatches the 

 young fish, only to see his neighbors across the river, or below or above 

 him, share the fish harvest without any expense on their part. I will, 

 in this connection, only mention the Dutch, who catch nearly all our 

 salmon when they are on their downward journey, and who would also 

 consider as welcome prey the products of German fish culture in the 

 Rhine. Unless a similar policj- is followed with regard to bodies of 

 water as with regard to forests, unless alrge portions of a river are, by 

 compulsory measures, formed into a large fishing district, similar to the 

 hunting districts in our forests, even the most earnest endeavors to in- 

 crease the stock offish will remain in vain. 



We, the pond cultivators, therefore watch with eager interest the 

 progress of fish culture; we acknowledge that in certain specially 

 favored localities favorable results may be seen, but so far at least 

 we are not afraid that the products of iish culture will either crowd out 

 of the market our good old carp or lessen its price. 



