137 



FISH AND GAME PROTECTION IN NEW 

 JERSEY, 



BY H. P. FROTHINGHAM. 



I have been asked to present to you mj^ views on 

 the progress made in the protection of fish and game 

 in the state of New Jersey, and I shall do so in as brief 

 and still as comprehensive a manner as possible. It 

 would be useless for me to say anything to 3^ou, gentle- 

 men, on the necessity of such protection, and, conse- 

 quentl}^, I shall at once proceed to give you my views 

 as to why fish and game are not better protected in 

 New Jersey, and I feel confident that a great deal of 

 what I shall say pertaining to New Jersey will apply 

 to a considerable extent also to other states. 



The average citizen generally pictures to himself 

 as the worst enemy of fish and game the man who 

 goes skulking through the forest looking after traps, 

 or, armed with a gun having a calibre of a ten-pound 

 cannon destroys everything that presents itself in fur 

 or feathers. Then we also hear of the man who sneaks 

 to the river shore at night with huge nets, and with 

 one sweep captures enough fish to supply the fish 

 markets of New York for a week. Again the picture 

 is presented to us of the farmer who jealously guards 

 his property against all trespassers, in order that his 

 revenue may be increased by unsportsmanlike melhods 

 of taking fish and game. From still another quarter 

 comes a cry that if fish wardens were more vigilant 



