Amcricati Fisheries Society. 77 



Erie fish. He says they are so (lifftrent ami (hstinct that the 

 fishermen ran rea(hly ])iek them out. I'ry of the blaek I'm whilr- 

 fish were phmted there some ten \ears aj^^o. 



Prof. Ihrge: 'Ihc eountint;- of the number of fm ravs is n<j 

 verv enormous jol). 



Mr. Stranahan: Uon'l they have to dissect tliem? 



Prof. Birge: No, simply spread out the fins and count the 

 rays. 



Mr. Bower: It seems to me that this discussion has de- 

 veloped the fact that we have too little faith in the fish we turn 

 out from hatcheries. When young fish are returned to indi- 

 genous waters I challenge anybody to give a reason why there 

 should not be as good results as from those hatched in the natural 

 way. When we can take shad from hatcheries, transport them 

 across the continent, and plant them into waters where the 

 species had never existed, then contemplate the remarkable re- 

 sults that have followed, our faith in the work of planting fry 

 rests on the solid foundation of proof of results. We didn't need 

 to identify the first adult shad that appeared in the bays and 

 rivers of the Pacific coast, nor was it necessary to identify one 

 trout in hundreds of streams in Michigan. The simple presence 

 of these fish was proof indisputable that they grew from planted 

 fry. Should not our faith in the work of planting fry in strictly 

 native waters be strengthened rather than weakened, in the face 

 of what planting in non-native waters has accomplished? And 

 should wc not feel entirely confident that as large a percentage 

 of fry so planted survive to maturity as from the wild fry, 

 whether we shall ever be able to identify one from the other or 

 not? 



Mr. Whitaker: The point made by IVIr. Bower has been 

 proven repeatedly. I don't think you need to argue to fish cul- 

 turists that artificial propagation has not been a striking success 

 in the stocking of waters. The great success that fish culturists 

 gain by their methods is gained by the isolation of the ova from 

 natural enemies until the eggs have hatched. Up to that point 

 you hav? minimized the loss. We have in Michigan the finest 

 river in the world for brook trout fishing and that stream was first 

 stocked with trout in 1879. I intended to have brought some 

 data I have as to the immense number of trout taken from it 

 in one year, givt-n nu- ])\- .Sailing. Hansen & Co.. of Oayling, 

 Mich. They arranged witli the l)oatmen on that stream to give 



