PROPAGATION AND DISTBIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1922. 109 

 FISH PROTECTION. 

 RESTRICTIVE FISHING LAWS ESSENTIAL. 



It is obvious to everyone giving thought to the subject that un- 

 restricted fishing, particularly in inland waters, can have but one 

 result, namely, the complete disappearance of desirable fish. It is 

 hardly probable that the most highly developed methods of artificial 

 propagation, however intensively applied, can be made effective 

 against the rapid growth of the country and the increasing numbers 

 of anglers unless such work is supplemented by natural reproduc- 

 tion. Tliis implies restrictive laws on fishing and the development of 

 a public sentiment in favor of such laws and their enforcement. 

 The following suggestions embody a few of the more important 

 points for consideration in connection with fish protection. It is 

 hardly possible to frame laws that can be applied generally. Each 

 section of the country will find it necessary to modify the laws to 

 meet existing local conditions. 



As an earnest of good faith on his part — ^that he respects the fish- 

 ing laws and intends to observe them — the prospective fisherman be- 

 fore starting on his trip should obtain from the State fisheries au- 

 thorities a license to fish. If we are to protect any species of animals 

 such protection must be extended to the young. Therefore a size 

 limit on the fish that may be legally taken is unquestionably essential. 

 If natural reproduction is to reach its highest value, fish must not be 

 molested during their mating season. The true sportsman on his 

 fishing trip is not seeking a large number of fish, but rather recrea- 

 tion in the open, and it is unsportsmanlike to take more fish at one 

 time than can be properly used. This idea suggests the desirability 

 of limiting the number of fish that may be legally taken in any one 

 day. Angling is recognized as one of the most popular sports, but 

 it is not sportsmanlike to take fish by other than sportsmanlike meth- 

 ods, which usually implies a rod and line held in the hand. The use 

 of poisons or explosives and the shooting of fish are always repre- 

 hensible. The wanton obstruction of the free passage of fish in any 

 stream, the deposit therein of trade or other industrial wastes in- 

 jurious to fish, the operation of irrigation ditches without screening 

 them for the exclusion of fish, all of these practices are prolific causes 

 of unnecessary depletion of fish life in inland waters. In streams 

 across which dams have been erected for industrial purposes fish 

 will frequently congregate in considerable numbers at certain seasons 

 of the year. To take them from such places by spearing, gaffing, or 

 other means is obviously not sport but wanton destruction. 



ENFORCEMENT OF FISHERIES LAWS. 



The bureau has no jurisdiction in the enforcement of fisheries regu- 

 lations excepting in Alaska and in respect to the sponge fisheries 

 beyond State limits in the Gulf of Mexico, such matters coming under 

 the State governments. If the fish and game laws are not enforced, 

 the matter should be taken up with the proper officials of the State in 

 which the violations occur. The bureau will not knowingly furnish 

 fish for waters in which illegal fishing is unchecked. The matter of 

 stream pollution and that of providing adequate fishways should also 

 be taken up with the State fisheries authorities. 



