A WORD ABOUT FLORIDA'S FISH AND 

 HER FISHERIES. 



By J. Asakiah Williams, 

 Shell Fish Commissioner of Florida. 



Man, in his earlier stages of existence, found nature a free 

 storehouse from which he could draw at will. As population 

 increased, the demands upon this storehouse increased. Then 

 there came a time when the demand exceeded the available 

 supply and man began to assist in his own support by conserving 

 what he had on hand and by improving on nature, making "two 

 blades of grass grow where only one grew before. " To encourage 

 such assistance, personal property rights became a rule of society. 

 As men increased in numbers and greater demands were made 

 upon nature's storehouse, it was found necessary to conserve 

 further, and the laying hen was not killed, the sow heavy with pig 

 was spared. Thus again was nature further assisted. But 

 man, fulfilling God's command to "replenish the earth," became 

 in some localities so numerous that even with this assistance, 

 nature's storehouse was failing in its supply. Especially was this 

 true in the fish of the streams, the game of the woods, the useful 

 trees of the forest. Then society exercised its sovereign power 

 over its nature's storehouse and passed regulations concerning 

 the taking of the same. 



Education as to the necessity for conservation is, of course, a 

 forerunner of all conservation measures, and the enforcement of 

 such measures is dependent to a large extent upon such education. 

 Sometimes even our trial judges and prosecuting attorneys, 

 learned in the law, fail to sympathize with conservation measures. 

 Where there are such judges and attorneys, it is difficult to get 

 convictions for violations of the law. It is needless to say that 

 these men are honest and learned, yet they are ignorant of the 

 reasons for and need of such laws. Fortunately, there are but 

 few such judges and attorneys. 



Conservation laws are curtailments of a man's natural privileges 

 for the good of the majority. The taking of fish and game when 

 not forbidden by law is not evil per se, because society has not seen 



159 



