Blackford. — Fish Conservation. 15 



had diminished to such an extent that its restoration 

 was one of the main reasons for the establishment of 

 the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 

 the predecessor of the present Bureau of Fisheries. Fol- 

 lowing the example of the National Government, many 

 of the states have established commissions charged with 

 the duty of restoring or increasing their respective fish- 

 eries, and it is a part of the duty of our Society to aid 

 these commissions in the accomplishment of their task. 



This can best be done by arousing the interest of the 

 people in the work, and as said above, this can only be 

 done by spreading abroad knowledge of the economic 

 value of the fisheries and showing that in preserving 

 them, something more is intended than merely restrict- 

 ing the rights of the fishermen. Our Society can do 

 good work in this direction, both as individuals and as 

 an organization, and I want to make a few suggestions 

 as to how we may go about it. 



At the meeting of the Fourth International Fishery 

 Congress, held in Washington in 1908, 0. M. Dennis, 

 former State Game Warden of Maryland, gave some 

 reasons for the failure of fish protective legislation, and 

 among them he placed the selfish jealousy of sportsmen 

 and commercial fishermen in regard to bills introduced 

 by either class. He said that this being true, 'The 

 country members of the legislature, as well as the fish- 

 ermen themselves, look with suspicion on any measure 

 presented to the legislature which has for its purpose the 

 protection of fish and game when such measure is pre- 

 sented by city men." Unfortunately this is true, and it 

 is not confined to Maryland by any means. The antagon- 

 ism between country men and city men is so widespread 

 as to be almost universal, and among the rural popula- 

 tion there is a general opinion that game protective laws 

 are designed to furnish sport for city men at the expense 

 of the rights of the country people. For this reason the 

 game laws are very commonly looked on as something 

 very much like acts of tyranny, and disobedience of them 

 is regarded somewhat in the light of heroism. It should 



