12 Report of the American 



PRESIDENT'S OPENING ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen : In calling the Annual Meeting of the American Fish 

 Culturists' Association to order, I have the pleasure of congratulating you 

 upon the progress which has been made during the past year. This great 

 economic interest, the artificial production and propagation of fish, has 

 been steadily' advancing since our last meeting. Success has crowned 

 all intelligent efl^orts ; failure has not interrupted the progress or en- 

 dangered the final result ; while operations have been extended in several 

 new channels, and many fresh and valuable discoveries have been made. 

 A wider and more general interest has been awakened among the people, 

 commissioners have been appointed in States where the subject had been 

 hitherto neglected, and the public are rapidl}^ becoming aroused to the 

 importance of the work we have undertaken. 



For the New York Commission of Fisheries, about which I may be 

 expected to say a few words in detail, a most substantial gain may be 

 reported, and a most flattering augury- for the future. Not only have all 

 the former iiiethods of procedure been enforced and extended, but several 

 new attempts have been made. Early in the spring of the year, Mr. 

 Seth Green was dispatched to Michigan to procure, if possible, some of 

 the spawn and mature fish of the American grayling, a variet}' almost, if 

 not quite, unknown, both to sportsmen and naturalists in our country 

 until lately. There is a difli"erence of opinion among fish culturists as to 

 the value of this species, both in an economic and a sporting view, some 

 contending that it is inferior to other of our well-known varieties, and 

 more difficult to raise ; and others claiming that, as it spawns in spring 

 at a season of the 3'ear unusual among its class, and as it is in excellent 

 condition in the fall, when the finest ordinary fresh-water fish are not to 

 be taken, it will be a valuable addition to the yield of eastern waters. 

 No one, however, can dispute that it is a most interesting subject of 

 stud}', equally to the ichthyologist and to the fish culturist. 



Mr. Green was not so fortunate as he hoped to be, arriving rather late 

 at the river inhabited by these fish, and only procured a limited number 

 of spawn and a few mature specimens. These were enough, however, 

 for the experiment, and with his usual care in transportation, he carried 

 them to the State Hatching House in New York from their home in the 

 waters of Michigan, with the loss of onl}- two. They were then placed 

 in the charge of Mr. Collins, who kindl}' ofl[ered to superintend their 

 management, and who hatched the ova very successfully. The}' grew 

 rapidly, and in them we have the nucleus for extending the experiment 



