246 Fortieth Annual Meeting 



nomic value ; it was interesting merely as a zoological curi- 

 osity. But about that time it was discovered that when 

 smoked it makes a good substitute for sturgeon; and that 

 spoonbill roe makes exoellent caviar. Since then spoon- 

 bill fisheries have sprung up at various points on the Mis- 

 sissippi and Ohio Rivers. 



The fish is usually taken in a seine. A practical method 

 of operating a large seine has been introduced by Mr. 

 McGehee at Moon Lake, and is worth noting. The seine 

 is wound on a huge, spool-shaped reel which is mounted 

 in a flat-bottomed boat. It is laid by unrolling from the 

 reel; and is wound up by having the crew walk up the 

 spokes of the wheels as on a ladder, so that the reel is made 

 to revolve. As the seine is gradually wound up and the 

 fish become confined to narrower and narrower space, they 

 dart wildly about seeking means of escape. One may then 

 study the paddlefish at very close range. Its sense of sight 

 is poorly developed, as indeed one might infer from its 

 small, beady, black eyes. If its " nose " is caught in the 

 seine it makes only feeble efforts to free itself, and usually 

 fails in doing so. The contrast between the clumsiness of 

 the spoonbill and the alertness of an active fish is strikingly 

 brought out if a gar pike is taken in the same haul; for the 

 gar makes tremendous efforts to escape and unless ren- 

 dered unconscious by a blow with a mallet, will flash 

 through the seine as if it were gauze. Leaning over the 

 side of the boat, near the corkline of the seine, one may 

 seize a five-foot paddlefish by the " nose " or the tail and 

 haul it into the boat; the only resistance is that of weight. 

 The fish has absolutely no sport value. 



The number of spoonbill taken in a single haul varies : 

 sometimes only a few are brought up, and sometimes as 

 many as a hundred. Of course other fish are caught at the 

 same time — bass, carp, crappie, and drum ; but they are only 

 of secondary importance and the game fish thus taken are 

 thrown back since they are safeguarded for the angler by 

 state law. 



