6 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF IXLAXD FISHERIES. 



absent in the fisheries, as the frequent conventions and other 

 means of exchanging information prove. While the sale of salt 

 water fish was formerly restricted to a narrow margin of the coast, 

 the present facilities for packing and transporting enable those 

 engaged in the business to distribute their goods, and markets are 

 to be found in all parts of the countrj^ This great extension of 

 the area of distribution calls for a corresponding increase of sup- 

 ply that at times has taxed the ingenuity and resources of the 

 fisherman to maintain. They have devised, and are using, im- 

 proved appliances, without which it would be impossible to meet 

 the very large and increasing demand, and there has naturally 

 been some alarm lest the increase of fish caught should exhaust 

 the ocean's supply. Efforts have been made to connect the large 

 catches made by these new appliances with an alleged diminution 

 of the fish, and complaints against the menliaden fishermen sein- 

 ing in the upper waters of the bay have been made to some of the 

 Commissioners hy residents along both shores. It is claimed that 

 after the seiners have begun their work food fish are not so plen- 

 tiful. 



While in former reports we liave pointed out other probable 

 causes of fluctuation, we wish now to call attention to an addi- 

 tional natural cause that has received little or no attention. Long 

 continued observation and great efforts have been made to learn 

 the history and habits of the ocean fishes. It is known that some 

 spawn in the ocean ; others in the shallow salt water ; still others 

 in the upper waters of the streams. Now, if there has been a 

 diminution of any of these fish, it is of the fresh water spawners. 

 The kinds that show most notably a decrease are the bass, the shad, 

 and the herring. If we look still further we shall see that the origi- 

 nal spawning grounds of these species have been materially affected 

 by the introduction of impurities and by the jjresence of obstruc- 

 tions. The imx3urities arise chiefly from the sewage of cities and 

 manufacturer's waste, and will naturally be exceedingly difficult 

 to correct. The obstructions are both artificial and natural. The 

 artificial obstructions, such as dams, etc., may be corrected by the 



