REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 136 



methods of capture 5 but, whatever may be the circumstances, there is 

 uo warrant for destroying any product which is the common property 

 of a country. It wouki, therefore, seem advisable to institute a system 

 of inspection, by scientific exj^erts, which could determine periodically 

 such facts as might be considered necessary as a basis for regulations, 

 the exj)enses to be met, if need be, by a slight tax upon the fishery. By 

 paying i^roper attention to the habits of a species, by prescribing the 

 methods of capture or by limiting the amount of catch, the source of the 

 industry can readily be maintained and its permanency insured. The 

 justice of such provisions are undeniable, and those who are directly 

 interested in the fishery and must profit by its permanence should be the 

 first to recognize its necessity. An inflexible system of i)olice super- 

 vision is not adequate to accomplish this purpose. There is a natural 

 fluctuation in the fish supply, and the conditions which surround it 

 vary more or less from time to time. 



Consideriug the present abundant stock of salmon in Alaska, and 

 the possibility of x)reserviug it from destruction, it seems unnecessary 

 to bring up the subject of artificial propagation as a means of maintain- 

 ing or increasing the supply. Should a resort to such measures become 

 necessary at any time, however, it would not be difficult to find proper 

 sites for hatching-stations, or to obtain the eggs in sufficient quantities 

 from the fish captured for canning or salting purposes; but at present 

 a system of protection seems most judicious and expedient. 



WYOMING. 



The Telloivstone National Park. — Two investigations have been made 

 in the Yellowstone National Park within the past two years, the first 

 by Dr. David S. Jordan and Prof. Charles H. Gilbert, during Sep- 

 tember and October, 1889, the second by Prof. S. A. Forbes and Prof. 

 Edwin Linton, during July and August, 1890. These inquiries were 

 instituted chiefly for the purpose of obtaining information to be used 

 in connection with the stocking of certain of the streams and lakes with 

 fishes, a measure which had previously been determined upon by the 

 Fish Commissioner. A peculiarity of the j)ark is the small variety of 

 fislies which inhabit it and the entire absence of fish life over a very large 

 area. The park is drained by tributaries of both the Mississippi and 

 the Columbia rivers, being traversed toward the southwest by the con- 

 tinental divide, which extends in a general northwest and southeast 

 direction. The streams which are devoid of fishes form several small, 

 distinct basins, in each of which it is proposed to plant only one or two 

 species, and at the time of writing this report considerable jjrogress 

 had been made in this direction. Under the conditions which there 

 exist not only may all suitable waters become replete with fishes, but 

 it is expected that the results will aflbrd an interesting study in accli- 

 mation, owing to the isolation of tlie different forms. 



