554 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The mode of proceediug liitlierto followed made the law almost inopera- 

 tive, and encouraged a license in treating it, which it is, or should be, the 

 design of the law to destroy. '• ISTo receiver of stolen goods, no thieves," 

 says the old proverb. No fracture of such a law of any imi^ortance 

 can occur without the participation of assistants, since the law itself now 

 does its best to help the receivers by depriving them of that eucom^age- 

 ment to the announcement of irregularities which it grants to the 

 specially-appointed inspectors, for whom such encouragement woiild ap- 

 pear less necessary, since they are paid especially to see that the law is 

 respected. Were such encoiu^agement granted to those who are not in- 

 spectors, the transgressions of the law would on that account alone 

 become exceedingly rare, as no one could be certain that a transgression 

 occurring would not be reported, which in ninety -nine out of a hundred 

 cases must come to the knowledge of many persons whose silence could 

 not be depended upon. The objection against encouraging a system of 

 informants, which we have heard mentioned as an argument against the 

 institution of such a reward, will signify nothing, because an occasion 

 for information will then never, or very seldom, arise. 



But, besides the encroachment of men, there is no little multitude of 

 animals which will tax the abundance of fishes in somewhat the same 

 degree as beasts of prey on the land and in the air reduce the abundance 

 of game, and this taxation is in reality very much more considerable 

 than people generally have any conception of. Otters, loons, ducks — 

 especially fish ducks — destroj' a considerable quantity offish, and should 

 therefore be persecuted with all means one is in possession of. In the 

 same class must be included fish of prey, not merely of the kinds which 

 are not objects of culture, but also those of the cultivated species which 

 have become so old that they increase annually in size but slightly in 

 proportion to the nourishment which they require. The most profitable 

 yield from fish cidture will clearly be obtained when the fish is regu- 

 larly caught as soon as it has reached the age and size at which the 

 quick increase begins to fall off. This size will differ in the different 

 species of fish, likewise in different waters, according to the greater or 

 less wealth of nourishment, and its quality. No general rule in this 

 direction can be given ; it can only be acquired through experience in 

 each separate locality. 



According to experience, a trout consumes daily animal food equal to 

 x^ of its weight ; this has at all events proved fully suflicient feeding 

 for fish maintained in the same way as stalled cattle. They have thrived 

 upon it, grown quickly, and become fat. Thej^ could of course have 

 consumed more 5 but this quantity may be regarded as a proper medium, 

 especially if one does not include A^ery large ones. A common lake- 

 trout which, for example, has reached a size of five kilograms, will thus 

 in the space of a year consume of food of all kiiuls 3G5 times 0.05=1<S.25 

 kilograms, while at the same size and age it will increase scarcely more 

 than one-half in the space of a year, or 2.5 kilograms, In the first three 



