138 American Fisheries Society 



be increased to at least tenfold over its past output. In 

 order to accomplish such a result, it was necessary to 

 obtain a new perspective, and in this paper the prelimi- 

 nary steps which led toward this goal are described. The 

 application of these facts is general, but all the illustra- 

 tions, and specific examples are drawn from Massa- 

 chusetts. The writer is not familiar with the work of 

 other state commissions, particularly the investigations 

 not published in the annual reports. For that reason all 

 criticism, favorable or unfavorable, is directed to condi- 

 tions in Massachusetts, and applies only to other states 

 when similar conditions exist. 



Natural Abundance. — Nearly every state in the Union 

 possesses many beautiful lakes, ponds and streams, capa- 

 ble of producing an abundance of food and game fish, 

 and in most cases, as in Massachusetts, but few of the 

 many thousand acres of waterways are producing any- 

 where near their maximum or even normal possibilities. 

 Therefore, it is important, both in the interests of sport 

 and as a source of food supply, that these latent assets 

 should be developed for the benefit of the public. 



In Colonial days, when a relatively small population 

 was scattered along the sea coast, leaving the inland 

 waters in their primitive, uncontaminated condition, the 

 abundance of salt and fresh water fish was far in excess 

 of the needs of the colonists, thus giving rise to the fal- 

 lacy which has been handed down zealously to the pres- 

 ent generation, that "Nature would always provide an 

 abundance of fish." Even in this era of conservation this 

 mistaken idea is still deeply rooted, especially among the 

 marine fishermen of our shore towns, and it can only be 

 eliminated by the complete exhaustion of the natural sup- 

 ply, or by the education of the general public. 



Decline. — With the advance of civilization great 

 changes have taken place in our waterways. Many times 

 the balance of nature has been overthrown and a new 

 equilibrium established. With the increase in population 

 the coastal streams were first invaded, cities were estab- 

 lished on the larger rivers, and various manufacturing in- 



