444 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF EISH AKD FISHERIES [8] 



GERMANY. 



I now turn to Germany and sball here pay special attention to the 

 results of salmon-culture, because it is aided by Government subsidies, 

 and because it is the principal field of activity of the German Fisliery 

 Association, of which Professor Malmgren speaks so unfavorably. More- 

 over we possess more material relative to salmon-culture, while the re- 

 sults obtaiued by private efforts, which have ])rincipally been devoted 

 to the cnltivation of the brook trout, have become but little known. I 

 shall be^iu with the waters in the eastern part of Germany and grad- 

 ually proceetl toward the west. 



In the Courland Sea and the inland waters of East Prussia the salmon 

 fisheries had considerably declined about the year 1870. As Beerbohiii 

 states in his Die Fischcrci dcs Kurisclien Hctffs nnd der Nc'hen()CiC((NScr 

 (the fisheries of the Courland Sea and adjacent waters), the salmon fish- 

 eries in these waters had almost come to an end about that time, simply 

 owing to the lack of fish. Throughout the whole of East and West 

 Prussia a similar decline of the salmon fisheries was re|)orted. The fish- 

 ery association of these two i)rovinc(\s has made the furtherance of their 

 fisheries its special object, ;ind in its efforts has been aided by the Gov- 

 ernment and the German Fishery Association. From small l)eginnings 

 it has risen slowly but steadily, and, thanlis to the indefatigable activity 

 of Professor Benecke, of Kiinigsberg, is constantly s))reading a greater 

 interest in the fisheries among the general ))ublic of East and West 

 Prussia. As regards the elibrts of this association in the line of salmon- 

 culture, we must state that young salmon fry were first ]daced in the 

 waters of East Prussia in 1877, circumstances, iiowever, not permitting 

 operations on a large scale. During last winter about 30(),0t)0 salmou 

 eggs were hatched in East Prussia, assuredly no insignificant quantity. 

 Also in West Prussia, near Elbing and Marienwerder, and in the river 

 Rhede, near Danzig, young salmon fry have been placed in the water, 

 though only in small qimntities. 



Nor can we pass by in silence the placing of young salmou fry in 

 waters in the region of the Upper Vistula in Galicia, through the aid of 

 the German Fishery Association, and the energetic etforts of Professor 

 Novicki in Cracow. Including the year 1883, a total of 301,000 young 

 salmou have been placed in Galician waters, a quantity which, consid- 

 ering the extent of the Vistula region, cannot be called very great. 



As a result of these efforts made both in East and West Prussia and 

 in the Upper Vistula region, we must doubtless consider the appearance, 

 during the last few years, of enormous numbers of young salmon aloug 

 the entire coast of Prussia from Hela to Memel. Many wagon-loads of 

 these fish have been brought to market, unfortunately among them fish 

 measuring from 20 to 30 centimeters [S to 12 inches] in length. We 

 may, therefore, hope that the salmon fisheries will increase considerably, 



