﻿EEPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  LXXV 
  

  

  about 
  fish 
  than 
  the 
  community. 
  Our 
  commissions 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  little 
  use- 
  

   ful 
  result. 
  The 
  American 
  commissioners 
  act 
  in 
  a 
  different 
  way. 
  They 
  

   put 
  questions 
  directly 
  to 
  nature 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  fishermen. 
  They 
  pursue 
  sci- 
  

   entific 
  methods, 
  and 
  not 
  those 
  of 
  " 
  rule 
  of 
  thumb." 
  They 
  make 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  investigations 
  into 
  the 
  habits, 
  food, 
  and 
  geographical 
  distribution 
  

   of 
  fishes, 
  and 
  into 
  the 
  temperature 
  of 
  the 
  seas 
  and 
  rivers 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   live 
  or 
  spawn. 
  Practical 
  aims 
  and 
  experiments 
  are 
  always 
  kept 
  in 
  view. 
  

   As 
  an 
  experiment, 
  they 
  tried 
  to 
  introduce 
  shad 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  

   and 
  succeeded 
  ; 
  they 
  tried 
  to 
  introduce 
  California 
  salmon 
  to 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   slope 
  and 
  failed. 
  As 
  an 
  instance 
  of 
  a 
  practical 
  aim, 
  they 
  have 
  restocked 
  

   the 
  Sacramento 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries 
  so 
  effectually 
  that 
  the 
  annual 
  in- 
  

   crease 
  each 
  year, 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  few 
  years, 
  has 
  been 
  5,000,000 
  pounds. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  object 
  of 
  my 
  letter 
  is 
  to 
  show 
  that, 
  while 
  the 
  private 
  propa- 
  

   gator 
  may 
  cultivate 
  young 
  fish 
  by 
  thousands, 
  aquaculture 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  

   undertaken 
  by 
  a 
  government, 
  for 
  its 
  statistical 
  results 
  must 
  be 
  counted 
  

   up 
  by 
  hundreds 
  of 
  millions. 
  In 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  all 
  the 
  departments 
  

   of 
  the 
  Government 
  cordially 
  co-operate 
  in 
  fish-culture; 
  the 
  railways 
  as- 
  

   sist, 
  and 
  provincial 
  bodies 
  are 
  active. 
  In 
  Scotland 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  fishery 
  

   commission, 
  willing 
  and 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  experiments, 
  but 
  the 
  Admiralty 
  

   cannot 
  find 
  a 
  vessel 
  to 
  make 
  dredging 
  experiments, 
  and 
  the 
  Treasury 
  

   cannot 
  find 
  £1,000 
  to 
  carry 
  out 
  important 
  researches 
  only 
  half 
  complete. 
  

   Biological 
  stations 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  Scotland 
  are 
  being 
  formed 
  slowly 
  on 
  

   account 
  of 
  deficient 
  public 
  support." 
  

  

  A 
  very 
  interesting 
  series 
  of 
  articles 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  Field 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  Booth, 
  a 
  well-known 
  fish-dealer 
  of 
  San 
  Francisco 
  and 
  Chi- 
  

   cago, 
  commencing 
  with 
  the 
  number 
  for 
  November 
  7, 
  1885, 
  contains 
  some 
  

   very 
  important 
  suggestions. 
  He 
  calls 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  

   great 
  decrease 
  that 
  has 
  taken 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  fishery 
  industry, 
  and 
  

   quotes 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  and 
  experienced 
  fisherman 
  of 
  the 
  lakes, 
  

   as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  Fifteen 
  years 
  ago 
  a 
  sail-boat, 
  with 
  a 
  crew 
  of 
  four 
  men, 
  used 
  to 
  run 
  

   from 
  eight 
  to 
  twelve 
  gill-nets, 
  and 
  catch 
  2,000 
  or 
  3,000 
  pounds 
  of 
  fish 
  at 
  

   a 
  haul. 
  Now 
  it 
  takes 
  a 
  gang 
  of 
  sixty 
  to 
  eighty 
  nets 
  to 
  catch 
  as 
  many 
  

   pounds, 
  and 
  it 
  takes 
  a 
  steam-tug 
  and 
  seven 
  men 
  to 
  tend 
  the 
  nets. 
  We 
  

   may 
  catch 
  more 
  fish 
  now, 
  altogether, 
  but 
  we 
  don't 
  make 
  as 
  much 
  money 
  

   as 
  we 
  did 
  a 
  while 
  ago." 
  

  

  He 
  further 
  remarks 
  that 
  originally 
  "whitefish 
  in 
  almost 
  any 
  quantity 
  

   could 
  be 
  taken 
  at 
  almost 
  any 
  point 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  lakes 
  and 
  

   their 
  connections, 
  even 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  seines, 
  and 
  the 
  pound-nets 
  rarely 
  

   needed 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  than 
  20 
  feet 
  in 
  depth. 
  Now 
  the 
  fish 
  have 
  become 
  so 
  

   scarce 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  unusual 
  thing 
  to 
  run 
  out 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  40 
  miles 
  to 
  

   their 
  fishing-grounds, 
  and 
  pound-nets 
  are 
  used 
  40, 
  GO, 
  or 
  even 
  100 
  feet 
  

   in 
  depth." 
  

  

  An 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  books 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  successful 
  fisherman 
  of 
  Mil- 
  

   waukee 
  shows 
  that 
  where 
  formerly 
  his 
  catch 
  averaged 
  1,000, 
  2,000, 
  

   and 
  3,000 
  pounds, 
  now 
  it 
  scarcely 
  amounts 
  to 
  as 
  many 
  hundreds. 
  

  

  