290 American Fisheries Society 



brought out the point that the water has to carry the atmosphere of the 

 fish — ^the air and the oxygen. The total amount is very limited and it 

 does not take much organic matter to use it all up. If that is done, 

 it is the same as if we all sat in this room, closed the windows, and 

 burned charcoal until the supply of oxygen was completely exhausted; 

 in this case we could not live. 



The problem of preventing pollution is only one phase of the gen- 

 eral water conservation problem — the conservation of the quality of the 

 water. The value of quality in water has been very little appreciated as 

 a whole. Water is the greatest of our natural resources and almost all 

 of its uses are dependent upon its suitable quality. The fishing interests 

 are but one small part of its value. Its use for city water supplies, 

 industrial purposes, and recreational advantages all depend upon quality. 

 Everybody is thus interested in maintaining a suitable quality of water, 

 and more can be accomplished by uniting the efforts of all parties 

 working together, than by each trying to solve the whole problem alone. 

 The fishermen, instead of looking at the problem of pollution as their 

 problem, should undertake to join with health authorities and all others 

 who are trying to stop pollution. It is a really broad conservation prob- 

 lem which should be taken up as a whole by some official body in a 

 position to obtain cooperation. In New York State the logical place 

 is the Conservation Commission. Rhode Island has just created a purity 

 of waters board which must pass upon matters affecting the quality of 

 the waters of Narragansett Bay. 



Mr. Barber: We have the right sentiment, and we have the co- 

 operation of the manufacturers. Everything is ready for you scientific 

 men to tell us what to do. If you will just show us a plan and say: 

 "This will do it," all we have to do is go to our manufacturers and say 

 to them : "Here is a plan." The manufacturers are ready to agree to do 

 it. It seems as though the question were solved, with the exception of 

 the work you men must perform. 



Mr. Wells : We are in the same position in New York. We said 

 to the milkmen: "You are putting all this milk waste into the water." 

 They said: "What can be done about it?" We said: "We do not know; 

 that is your job." They said that they were willing to cooperate with 

 us in a solution of the problem and they appropriated $10,000, which was 

 turned over to Cornell University to be applied to experimental work. 

 That is evidence of progress. The moment we get to that point of 

 view, we are on the right road. Of course, we should not expect the 

 manufacturers to stop putting in that stuff tomorrow. 



Mr. Barber: We cannot arrest our manufacturers, as they put their 

 institutions there at the request of the people in the first place. The 

 people wanted the plants in order that employment might be afforded 

 to members of the community concerned. They knew nothing about 

 this matter of the pollution of streams, but most of the plants have 

 Tfarhed such a stage of development that we do not longer want their 

 waste matter deposited in the streams or lakes, so we say it has to be 



