28 American Fisheries Society 



hired and paid by the day or month to carry on the work, 

 but, in spite of the fact that the men worked hard and 

 fished all sloughs that it seemed desirable to fish, the 

 number secured did not come up to expectations. Where 

 fishermen had made good money seining and delivering 

 bass and crappies at three to three and one half dollars 

 per thousand, they cost us in many cases as high as ten 

 dollars per thousand. The fishermen told me at that time 

 that they would gladly go back to the old method and 

 seine by the thousand if I would only keep away from 

 them entirely and promised that there would be a large 

 number of bass secured. This convinced me that to get 

 large numbers of these fishes it was necessary to take 

 them wherever you could. This would be somewhat to 

 our advantage as these fish could be planted in inland 

 waters while if left in the river they would be likely to 

 go to waters belonging to other states. 



Of course, the rough fish returned to the river, have a 

 great value and no one would argue that this work should 

 be stopped, but the tendency is to make it as easy as pos- 

 sible to secure that which shows most and make a good 

 record rather than consider the greatest good to the 

 waters. I do not believe the various states could be 

 brought to attempt the carrying out of a comprehensive 

 plan for bettering the interstate waters and so consider it 

 a work for the Federal Government. All the work con- 

 nected with these waters could come under federal con- 

 trol and hatcheries could be maintained to increase the 

 supply of fish of all desirable varieties, both for the 

 sportsman and the commercial fisherman. 



The Great Lakes, the rivers of the Pacific and Atlantic 

 Coasts and the inland lakes and streams throughout the 

 country are provided with fish artificially hatched while 

 this great stream is used as a source of supply to furnish 

 fish for other streams, while receiving few in return ex- 

 cept those taken from the sloughs and returned to the 

 river from whence they came. Would it not be to the ad- 

 vantage of all to build up the fisheries of this great water- 

 way rather than to injure it by the continual taking away 



