The experience of many European biologists in artificial 

 propagation of fresh-water fish showed that the populations of 

 fish in streams and ponds could be maintained by restocking 

 with artificially raised young fish. Various organizations in 

 the United States and state officials urged the U. S. Commissioner 

 of Fisheries to initiate artificial cultivation of marine species 

 and to introduce foreign species of fish into American waters. 

 The construction of a marine hatchery at Woods Hole was made 

 in response to these requests. The problem of maintaining a 

 fish population at a desired level of abundance appeared to be a 

 simple one. In general, the fecundity of oceanic food fishes is 

 very high, the adult female (depending on species) producing 

 every year from several hundred thousand to several million 

 eggs. Inference was made that by means of artificial propagation 

 it would be possible to increase the supply of such fish as cod, 

 flounder, shad, mackerel, halibut, and other species, and also 

 to transport them to other localities where they were not present. 

 Baird, in accord with the opinion of other biologists of his time, 

 believed that artificial propagation might be effective, and put 

 his full energy in establishing new hatcheries along the coast and 

 over the mainland of the United States. Technical progress in 

 the design of various hatching jars, boxes, and other equipment 

 made in the United States was so rapid that as early as 1881 the 

 U. S. Fish Commission participated with great success in the 

 Berlin Fishery Exhibition, showing the progress of fish culture 

 in the United States. A considerable part of this exhibit was 

 prepared at Woods Hole. 



D. Haack (1882, p. 57) summarizes a German appraisal 

 of the American section in the Exhibition in the following words: 

 "Everything which America had sent was on a magnificent scale. 

 The American exhibit was distinguished by the neat workmanship 

 of all the objects. But best in astonishment we stand before the 

 large model of the Fish Hawk, a large steamship especially 

 constructed by the American Government for the purpose of 

 pisciculture. The steamship contains, both in its interior and 

 its sides, hundreds of large pieces of apparatus for hatching fish 

 eggs. The steam engine partly serves for pumping of water and 

 partly for moving to and fro in the water the apparatus attached 

 to the sides of the vessel, thus vivifying the germs of the eggs. . . 

 . . With all our piscicultural efforts we must confess that we felt 

 very small when viewing this grand American exhibit; and the 

 magnificent results obtained in America are sufficient guarantee 

 that this is no American humbug. For the present we can 

 certainly do no better than to strain every nerve and imitate the 

 example set us by the Americans. " In recognition of his achieve- 

 ments at the Berlin Exhibition, Baird received from the Emperor 

 of Germany the "Erster Ehrenpreiz" of the International Fisherei- 

 Ausstellung at Berlin. Previously he had received the silver medal 



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