32 Ticcnfy-sci'ciitJi Ajiiiiial Meeting 



case were a station estabrished on the Au Sable, as the quantity 

 of water is practically unlimited. It is safe to say 1,000,000 

 parent fish may there be carried in ponds and raceways if de- 

 sired. 



With a large establishment located on the Au Sable, from 

 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 eggs may be collected, carried forward 

 to the "eye" stage, then shipped to other fish-cultural stations. 

 This matter has been laid before the Commission, and it is hoped 

 the work may be undertaken, if not by the United .States, 1 

 should recommend the matter to the Michigan Commission. 



Mr. Bovver then read a paper by V. H. Dickenson as follows: 



THE PROTECTION OF FISH AND A CLOSED SEASON. 



From boyhood's days I have been deeply interested in the sub- 

 ject of fish and fishing, but until quite recently, almost wholly 

 from the standfyoint of an angler. As an angler, I was seldom 

 brought into contact with fish life during the season of natural 

 reproduction, for I was led to believe that all fish should be let 

 severely alone at breeding time. Quite naturally, therefore, I 

 had little or no opportunity to observe nature's ways and meth- 

 ods of reproduction, nor to compare the results thus obtained 

 with results under the shielding hand and fostering care of man. 



But time's changes led me to accept the ofifice of Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries for the State of Michigan; a State that not only 

 has within its borders innumerable lakes and streams of unrivalled 

 character, but is itself bordered by more miles of fresh water than 

 any other state or country on earth, except Canada. I soon 

 realized that I had accepted a position of no little responsibility, 

 for, in addition to the thousands of square miles of inland waters 

 that needed attention, important commercial interests must be 

 controlled and conserved by wise legislation. 



For a number of years the question of prohibiting fishing on 

 the great lakes during the month of November had been agitated 

 in our legislative halls, the object of which was to allow all of the 

 whitefish and lake trout to spawn naturally. Without investi- 

 gating for myself, and accepting it as a matter of course that such 

 a measure of prohibition would be wise, I worked earnestly and 

 zealously for the enactment of the present closed season law. 



During the controversy that finally resulted in the passage 

 of this law, many points were developed' that set me to thinking 

 and investigating, and I have continued to think and to investi- 

 gate until I am thoroughly convinced that, under the conditions 

 that prevail, this law was a most unwise and untimelymeasure. 



