REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 21 



the New England salmon fishery as a warning, some of the States 

 seem yet absolutely indifferent to the crying needs of fisheries for 

 species of similar habits, whose obliteration is as certain as that of 

 the salmon in the Kennebec and the sturgeon in the Potomac, unless 

 radical corrective measures are taken. The fishes most in need of con- 

 sideration are the shad, the striped bass, and the sturgeon on the 

 Atlantic coast and the salmons in the Pacific States. 



The striped bass has been referred to elsewhere. The disappear- 

 ance of the sturgeon from nearly every east-coast river shows how 

 greed and indifference may in a single generation destroy a valuable 

 fishery. The case of the shad has frequently been pointed out in the 

 reports of the Bureau; the general decline of this fishery, and con- 

 sequently in the hatchery work, for which eggs are obtained from fish 

 caught for market, has been arrested only in North Carolina among 

 all the States in which the Bureau engages in shad cultivation. The 

 immediate effect of sensible protective measures in this State shows 

 the results that may be expected from similar legislation for the vari- 

 ous important streams, like the Potomac, the Susquehanna, and the 

 Delaware, in which the shad has been persistently destroj^ed year 

 after year without any regard for the future. 



The condition and trend of the salmon fishery of the Columbia 

 River is cause for serious concern. The situation has demanded 

 prompt and judicious action if this fishery is to be preserved, yet 

 factional and personal considerations have been allowed to interfere 

 with the passage of the needed laws, and the condition remains un- 

 relieved. The Bureau's efforts in artificial propagation are nega- 

 tived by the States' indifference, and the necessity for Federal control 

 of interstate waters in the interest of the fisheries is thus again 

 forcefully illustrated. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



NEW FISH-CULTURAL STATIONS. 



The growth of the fish-cultural branch of the Federal fishery 

 service and the increasing demands for food and game fishes necessi- 

 tate the establishment of additional hatcheries from time to time. 

 At present the greatest need exists in the Mississippi Valley and 

 Southern States, for the cultivation of commercial fishes adapted for 

 culture in ponds and small water courses, and it is strongly urged 

 that early provision be made for a limited number of hatcheries in 

 those regions. 



INCREASED FACILITIES FOR RESCUING FISH FROM OVERFLOWED LANDS. 



This important work, which in some respects is more beneficial 

 than artificial propagation, is susceptible of great expansion and 



