38 Tzi'cnty-sciriitli Aiimial Meeting 



turity, it would be more than doul^le the amount caught every 

 year. 



If the brook trout in the streams protected by a closed season 

 of eight months and until they have come to maturity, will not 

 produce enough fry naturally to keep the streams stocked, how 

 can any one believe or expect a closed season of whitefish and 

 lake trout to keep the Great Lakes stoeked? 



(From Dwight Lydell, Overseer Fish Hatcherv, Mill Creek, 

 Mich.) 



Hon. F. B. Dickerson, 

 Fish Commissioner, 

 Detroit, Mich. 



Dear Sir: — In response to your request for my ideas of oui 

 closed season law, I hereby submit what I think of the same. 



If we are going to have a closed season for whitefish and lake 

 trout, why not admit at once that the artificial propagation of 

 these fish is a failure, which we know to be false. And if a closed 

 season, for these fish will keep up the supply, why surely it would 

 do the same for every other species of fish that we propagate. The 

 brook trout that are only caught with a hook and line and have a 

 closed season eight months of the year, would soon become nearly 

 extinct in most of our streams, if it were not for the planting of the 

 fry nearly every year. Now, vith this fact before us, how can we 

 ever expect a closed season tc ':eep up the supply in our Great 

 Lakes? 



A closed season for one month does not cover the spawning 

 season anyway, as the fish in diff"-ent localities do not spawn 

 at the same time. For example, take the wall-eyed pike of Sag- 

 inaw Bay and the same of the St. Clair River. In Saginaw Bay 

 they spawn in April, but the St. Clair fish spawn in May. This I 

 know to be true, as I used to finish spawn-taking operations at 

 Saginaw Bay the last of April and go from there to the St. Clair 

 River and commence operations about the 3rcl of May, finishing 

 about the 26th of May. This shows why some of our fishermen 

 favor the closed season. You pass a law to prohibit the fisher- 

 men at Saginaw Bay from fishing in April, and you would hear a 

 howl from that part of the State, but the St. Clair fishermen would 

 pat you on the back and say that law was all right, and just what 

 the State needs. Why? Because their fish would then be the 

 first in the market and would command a good price. Now, just 

 reverse the law and have it for May and you would have all of 

 the Saginaw fishermen climbing over one another to shake your 



