1148 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 



Almost auy iMece of water, be it a bay or soucd, or be it the covering 

 of a ledge or shoal at sea, may be overfished to such a degree that 

 fishing becomes unprofitable, especially if fishing be carried on in the 

 spawning season. This statement refers, of course, only to the fishes 

 which feed near the bottom. A familiar example is the abandonment 

 of Massachusetts Bay by the halibut and the extension of the fishery 

 into very deep water. 



Protection to the local fishermen may therefore require the regula- 

 tion by law of definite fishing-grounds near the coast. There can be 

 no doubt that the extensive fisheries ])rosecuted by menhaden steamers 

 in the gulf of Maine, though probably not so injurious to the fishery in- 

 terests in general as is usually su])posed, were prejudicial to the shore 

 fishermen by driving the fish they formerly caught for bait out to sea 

 and beyond the reach of their nets. There is also reason to believe that 

 our great i)urse-seine fisheries for menhaden and mackerel, though jier- 

 haps not causing a decrease in the numbers of the fish, have kept them 

 farther from the shore. 



6. jMETHODS to be ADOPTED FOR THK IMPROVEMENT OF THE 



FISHERIES. 



We have briefly reviewed the character of the various destructive in- 

 fluences which man brings to bear upon the inhabitants of the water, 

 and noticed in passing some of their effects. We now are confronted by 

 the question, What can be done to neutralize these destructive tenden- 

 cies "? There are evidently three things to do : 



1. To preserve fish waters, especially those inland, as nearly as it 

 may be possible in their normal conditicm. 



2. To prevent wasteful or immoderate fishing. 



3. To put into practice the art of fish breeding : 



a. To aid in maintaining a natural su])i)ly. 



b. To repair the eflects of past improvidences, and 



c. To increase the supply beyond its natural limits rapidly enough 



to meet the necessities of a constantly increasing population. 



The preservation of normal conditions in inland waters is compara- 

 tively simple. A reasonable system of forestry and water purification is 

 all that is required ; and this is needed not only by the fish in the 

 streams but by the peo])le living on the banks. It has been shown that 

 a river which is too foul for fish to live in is not fit to flow near the habi- 

 tations of man. Obstructions, such as dams, may, in most instances, be 

 overcome by fish ladders. The salmon has profited much by those de- 

 vices in Europe, and the immense dams in American rivers will doubt- 

 less be passable even for shad and alewives if the new system of fish- " 

 way construction, devised by Colonel McDonald, and now being applied 

 on the Savannah, James, and Potomac, and other large rivers, fulfills its 

 present i)romises of success. 



The protection of fish by law is what legislators have been trying to 

 effect for manv centuries, and we are boun(i to admit that the success of 



