RESCUE WORK— THE SAVING OF FISH FROM 

 OVERFLOWED LANDS 



By S. p. Bartlett 



Some time in the early seventies, Mr. B. F. Shaw, an 

 ardent and able fish cultnrist, was appointed fish commis- 

 sioner of Iowa. He made a careful study of the conditions 

 existing in his State to ascertain the causes of the rapid 

 decrease in the coarser varieties of fish, and to prevent 

 further loss, if possible, as well as to increase the supply. 

 He found, first, that the buffalo, then the principal market 

 fish, were being taken in large numbers at every spawning 

 season from the shallow ponds made by the overflow of the 

 rivers, where they went to deposit their spawn. Of those 

 allowed to spawn a large proportion perished when they 

 were left in the overflows by the receding water, and, with 

 the coming of hot weather and the consequent rapid evapora- 

 tion, the fry so left either died with the drying up of the 

 ponds or were frozen out in winter, if not devoured pre- 

 viously by birds or mammals when the water became 

 shallow. 



Practically without funds, Mr. Shaw made a personal 

 examination of the sloughs and ponds along the Mississippi 

 River in his State, and concluded that, as he could not 

 attempt artificial propagation, he would utilize the natural 

 supply that was then going to waste by seining out these 

 flat ponds and selecting such material as could be safely 

 moved, putting the better varieties into the inland waters 

 and depositing the residue in the river or nearest deep water. 



These attempts were largely experimental, as the means 

 available only permitted the use of a small tug with a 

 limited crew for a short time, but Mr. Shaw had confidence 

 in his theory, and at a meeting in Chicago of men interested 

 in fish culture, in 1877 I think, he told of his experiments to 

 those assembled. He received only perfunctory attention. 



