642 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
would be very little difficulty in having the inexperienced taught by the experts 
in the employ of the two governments. After impregnation all of the spawn 
should be turned over to United States and Canadian government agents for 
shipment to the several hatcheries, where the eggs could be cared for and the 
fry distributed in a wide range throughout the entire Great Lakes system. 
The eggs taken by each fisherman should be measured and kept separate from 
the others throughout the incubation period. This would involve but very little 
additional labor and would be of very material assistance to those agents of the 
two governments upon whom would be placed the responsibility of enforcing the 
protective laws; and such a record would not only show exactly which fishermen 
were improperly impregnating the eggs taken, but by comparison with the size of 
their catch during the spawning season it could be satisfactorily determined 
whether or not they obeyed the law prescribing that all ripe females should be 
stripped. Of course, a fisherman might be the victim of ill luck throughout one 
season, but’a recurrence of an unsatisfactory showing would put him under suspi- 
cion, and with the penalty of a forfeiture of his license hanging over his head he 
could be very easily made to see the error of his way. Finally, the Detroit 
River must be closed to all fishing at all times, except with rod and line, and 
must be constituted a joint government reservation, controlled and used by 
the two governments for collecting stations. 
If the present facilities for handling the product from these two sources 
are not sufficient, hatching and distributing stations can be arranged for easily 
and without any great amount of expense. Such a station with a producing 
capacity of 50,000,000 fry can be constructed and equipped at a cost not 
exceeding $1,500, and the same can be operated at an annual expenditure of $500. 
This is my plan, in the rough to be sure, but with its essential outlines 
sufficiently distinct to make the work of preparing and putting into execution 
an adequate system for the proper protection and consequent increase of the 
whitefish in the Great Lakes a comparatively easy task. It is self-evident that, 
inasmuch as the life and growth of the whitefish industry of our inland seas 
are directly dependent upon the maintenance of supply, the plan which will 
best promote the industry will be the one which will insure the greatest increase 
in the species. 
