A METHOD OF FISH CULTURE AND OF TRANSPORTING 



LIVE FISHES. 



By A. D. Mead, Ph. D., 



MEMBER OP THE RHODE ISLAND COMMISSION OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 



METHOD. 



The method and apparatus herein described as a novel and practical 

 method of fish culture have gradually developed through eleven years 

 of continuous experimentation at the marine station of the Rhode 

 Island Commission of Inland Fisheries. It may be said, indeed, that 

 the method and the station have developed together. The aim has 

 been throughout to provide as simply as possible the essential features 

 of the natural environment, biological and physical, for aquatic animals 

 while kept in confinement, and to introduce as little as possible the un- 

 natural features which are frequently considered necessary in artificial 

 culture. Upon this principle there has been sought a feasible method 

 of providing water agreeable to the particular species in regard to the 

 various component salts, well aerated but not over aerated, having 

 the proper temperature, density, and current, and containing appro- 

 priate food in available condition; while providing at the same time 

 for the elimination of waste products of animal respiration, and avoid- 

 ing the dangerous chemical and bacterial impurities almost invariably 

 present where the water is passed through systems of piston pumps, 

 closed conduits, and storage tanks, and is aerated by means of forced 

 air. 



The first step in the development of the method was a very direct 

 and simple concession, namely, that of going to the ocean instead of 



