XVII -REPOPULATION OF THE WATER-COURSES IN BELGIUM. 



By Baron De Selys Longchamps.* 

 [Member of the Eoyal Academy of Belgium aud president of the Senate.] 



Belgium has finally decided to attempt the repopulation of her water- 

 courses. Our river fisheries, formerly so rich, especially in salmonoids 

 and crawfish, are in greater danger than those of almost any other 

 country. The causes of destruction are manifold, and they can be par- 

 tially overcome only by great and persistent efforts. 



Our two great riv^ers, the Meuse and the Scheldt [Escaut], differ in 

 their character, and consequently produce different fish. From Ant- 

 werp downward the Scheldt becomes an arm of the salty sea, and the 

 tide can even be noticed above that city. In this portion of the river 

 the existence of fish does not seem to be endangered by the pollution 

 of the waters. They catch there, at the proper seasons, the Alosa 

 finta^ the Osmerus eperlanus, and the Coregonus oxyrhynchus ; but the 

 last-mentioned fish cannot be very common, for in the Brussels market 

 I have only found it in rare cases, aud mixed with the Osmerus eper- 

 lanus. 



The eel {Anguilla vulgaris) and the small plaice {Pleuronectes flesus) 

 are very common there at all times. The sturgeon {Acipenser sturio) as- 

 cends as far up the river. In its upper parts and its tributaries towards 

 Flanders, Haiuault, and Brabant the Scheldt is fearfully polluted by 

 the factories of Roubaix, Turcoiug, Ghent, and Brussels. Formerly it 

 was full of fish, although the fish suffered greatly from the pollution of 

 the waters caused by the retting of flax in those parts of Flanders 

 where this industry is carried on.' 



The Meuse was celebrated for its salmon {Salmo salar), which ascended 

 this river in order to spawn in its fresh-water tributaries which flow 

 into it from the Ardennes and other mountainous regions on its right 

 bank. The shad {Alosa communis) used to ascend the Meuse in spring 



* " Eepentjylevient des coura d^eau en Belgique," par M. C. Baron de Sehjs Longchamps. 

 [From Bulletin mensuel de la Society d' Acclimataiion de France, 3d sSric, tome x, No. 3, 

 Mars, 1883, Peris.] Translated from the French by Herman Jacobson. 



lUnder the title " Suppression totaledu rouissage putride par Vapplication dex systkme de 

 M. Lejebre" (Total suppression of putrid retting by the application of Mr. Lefc^bre's 

 system) an important pamphlet has appeared, which was read at the meeting of the 

 Central Society of Agriculture of Belgium, June 13, 1881. (Brussels, E. Guyot, 1881.) 

 The practical results of this method are given in detail. 



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