114 American fisheries Society 



In every case where a man has a small stream or a small pond, 

 where there is no chance for the trout to come in from Great South 

 Bay and put in new blood, they grow large. They are cannibals, as 

 we all know, and those ponds end up with a quantity of large fish that 

 won't rise to a fly ; and they eat up all the other ones, and the young 

 trout die. 



Mr. Seymour Bower: I do not question the benefit of fishways for 

 trout. It is quite necessary for trout to be able to ascend to suitable 

 spawning grounds, which they cannot do if there are impassible bar- 

 riers. We also know that trout, where they have access to the sea 

 and go to salt water, or brackish water, improve greatly ; it seems 

 necessary to make them strong, vigorous and healthy. 



But it is quite a different proposition, these large power reservoirs 

 in rivers, such as we have in Michigan in streams like the Muskegon 

 River and others, where the dams have a head of from 30 to 60 feet. 

 Each of the divisions between dams is a perfect unit, containing feed- 

 ing grounds, breeding grounds, quiet water, rapid water and all the 

 conditions essential to the production of fish at their best from the 

 time of their birth till they arc full adults. Under such conditions 

 I see no advantage in having fishways. 



Mr. Cranston : 1 believe I can promote mutual interest by a few 

 remarks and a few photographs I propose to circulate without inter- 

 rupting the subsequent discussion. 



We have had under consideration a fixed plan for a standard fish- 

 way proposition. But my belief is that every obstruction in a stream 

 is a case in itself, and that it is next to impossible to establish or* 

 install any fixed standard fishway that will meet all conditions. To 

 demonstrate the truth of that position, 1 have a few photographs 

 illustrating two practical fishways in my district. I personally have 

 inspected both of these during the time these photographs were taken, 

 and I know they are practical fishways. The only objection is as to 

 their capacity. We are working on them to improve them; and in one 

 case advantage was taken entirely of natural conditions. There is 

 practically no semblance of an artificial structure there, but just ail 

 improvement of the natural conditions to turn the flow of water 

 through crevices and rifts in the barriers. I know that both of those 

 fishways are practical, and still a casual observer would not probably 

 know that either of them was artificial at all. I will pass these pictures 

 around for examination. 



President: I think the discussion has produced one result, and 

 that is you cannot have any fixed rule : that every case must be gov-' 

 erned according to locality and the kind of fish in your stream. From 

 that standpoint the discussion has been a success. 



