T5 
means there springs up a knowledge of reproduction, they 
see for themselves the advantages obtained by preservation, 
the rude operators learn something of the life and habits 
of the species kept at the stations, in a word, men who 
have hitherto thought only about fishing, think about the 
stocking of fishing grounds. 
One word with respect to the fry proceeding from these 
establishments. This is the vulnerable point of the system. 
The United States consigns them to the care and watch- 
fulness of protecting societies, but the representatives of 
other nations, who do not act in this spirit of association, 
and are not in a condition to bear the increasing expenses 
of a complete plan of fish hatching establishments, will 
agree with me, that however excellent may be the system 
under discussion, it is not fit for general adoption, having no 
other resource but that of looking to the State to keep up 
the production by means of a provisional law, which, while 
giving every possible limit to the industry, contributes in a 
marked degree to prevent the depletion of the fisheries. 
These limitations cannot be determined in a general 
sense, because in them there enter conditions which cannot 
be disregarded, conditions which spring, some from nature 
itself, others from the laws, usages, and customs of each 
particular nation. It will hence be seen how much in 
common are the interests of fishing in all countries, all 
having the same fundamental principle, and it will then be 
possible to adopt measures having the same affinity and 
end. 
In the first place it is necessary to take into account the 
fact that the same principles cannot be established in all 
waters. Thus Spain bounded by two distinct seas finds it 
necessary to depart from the general unity which applies 
to every national law, the industry being carried on under 
