THE WHITEFISH PRODUCTION OF THE GREAT LAKES. 693 
of our early United States Fish Commission reports, where I personally made certain 
observations upon this phase of our subject, and I have always supposed that this was 
why we approved the dry method of impregnation instead of the wet method. Experi- 
ments made by me many years ago in taking eggs of the whitefish brought me to these 
conclusions: You take your eggs in a pan of water with the milt, and you get a fair 
impregnation; you take your eggs in a pail of water, say 10 gallons, and you get a 
medium impregnation—perhaps 20, 30, or possibly 4o per cent. If you take your eggs 
in a barrel of water you may get 15 or 20 per cent. Therefore I have always concluded 
that where the female whitefish spawned indiscriminately in the water, with the milt no 
doubt added in the same way, only partial fertilization would result. In fact I believe, 
Mr. President, that many female whitefish spawn when there is not a male fish anywhere 
in the vicinity. From that we must, it seems to me, draw the conclusion that where 
the whitefish spawn naturally it is not possible to have any high percentage of impreg- 
nation. Personally, I do not like the word “‘artificial.’’ There is nothing under the sun 
artificial about the care or hatching of fish eggs, excepting that you give them care. 
It is ‘‘protected propagation,’’ Mr. President, and I like to use that term. There is 
nothing artificial in taking the eggs. You merely bring the eggs and the milt together. 
That is all there is of it; and then you care for them, and the care and attention which is 
given them in our hatcheries is what I prefer to call protected propagation. 
Some speaker mentioned pound nets. Here is the ground that I take. As you will 
see, I*make the penalty very severe to the fishermen; it is the most severe punishment 
that was ever thought of, in my judgment. Think of it! The third violation stops 
his fishing. I do not care if he is but 20 years old, he stops fishing the balance of his 
life. Suppose some of our immensely wealthy fishermen on the Great Lakes—take 
the A. Booth Packing Company—violate this law the third time, what happens? ‘They 
must stop fishing or the revenue boat will attend to them. 
All this is contained in this paper, and my idea is based on the idea of federal control, 
not state regulation. I mean federal control by the Dominion of Canada and the United 
States; not state control or provincial control. Our warden boats go there, and they 
may find a man violating the law. He is arrested; his license is taken away from him 
for six months; for the second offense for a longer period. 
Might I be permitted to state what I said to a fisherman on the lake? I gave him 
my idea of this federal control, and what I proposed. I said: ‘“‘ You do not obey these 
state laws very well?” “Oh, no;” he replied, ““we take our chances on getting caught.”’ 
“You caught a considerable number of fish here one fall out of season?” He replied: 
“Yes; oh, yes.” “Well,” I said, “John, I know how many you caught—about $10,000 
worth.’”’ He answered: ‘‘Yes; and I was taken over here and fined $500, but I had 
$9,500 left.” I said to him: “John, what will you do if you are licensed and you violate 
that law, and have to stop fishing six months?’”’ ‘‘Why,” he said, ‘‘it would almost 
ruin me for six months.” I said: “What will you do if you have to stop for a year?” 
He replied: “I could not stand it.” That is my idea. I do not know whether I have 
answered all questions or not. 
Mr. J. J. STRANAHAN (Georgia). Mr. Clark, you have a better memory than mine, I 
know. You remember what we published with reference to the fertilization of white- 
fish eggs on the Detroit River? 
Mr. CyarKk. Oh, yes. 
Mr. STRANAHAN. What was the percentage? 
Mr. CLARK. It was very low. I do not know that I can give the exact figures. It 
might have been one-half of 1 per cent. 
Mr. STRANAHAN. Less than 1 in 1,000. 
Mr. CLark. Very low, indeed. 
Mr. STRANAHAN. I want to speak only a word. Under the direction of the United 
States Commissioner of Fisheries, I was instructed to make dredgings on the reefs with 
