58 Fortieth Annual Meeting 



Mr. Clark : I move the adoption of the resolution on 

 conservation. 



Motion seconded and unanimously carried. 



SALE OF HATCHERY FISH IN CLOSE SEASON 



President : The second resolution is really intended to 

 provide that grov^ers of brook trout or other kinds of fish 

 as a private enterprise may sell their products at any season 

 of the year under proper regulations. 



Dr. George W. Field^ Boston, Mass. : If there is any 

 objection to the resolution I will say that our experience 

 in Massachusetts thoroughly convinces me that it should be 

 passed for there is no more reason why we should forbid 

 or prevent the cultivation and utilization of these fish as 

 food by placing them on the market, than we should say 

 that we must depend on the supply of wild strawberries for 

 human food. I believe it opens a legitimate and proper 

 source of food and an extension of the possibility of support 

 for people who cannot afford to pay for extended trips ; 

 that the recreation uses are as advisable as setting aside 

 public parks. It has been found by experience i^erfectly 

 possible to recognize in the market and to prevent the sale 

 of wild trout, and the matter of recognizing artificially 

 reared trout, and in facilitating the marketing of them, is 

 very readily handled. 



Mr. Fenn: May T inquire of Dr. Field as to whether in 

 Massachusetts the burden of proof is on the seller of the 

 wild trout or on the commission, to prove that they are not 

 wild trout. I ask this for the reason that we have a law in 

 Connecticut forbidding the sale of wild trout, and authoriz- 

 ing under label the sale of hatchery-raised trout, and we 

 distinguish them in that way. Now we meet with this 

 difficulty there : a fish is found in a market, or cooked and 

 placed on a restaurant platter, and the commission may 

 bring an action; but we find it very difficult to prove our case 

 unless we catch the man actually taking the wild trout from 

 the brook; we find it very difficult to get a conviction; 



