AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 69 



I shiill liy lo aiiswor tliis quoslion categorically: 



1. InvcsthjationH sliouhl be carried on throuf/lioul Hir year. 

 So loiij? as animals were merely to be named or their anatomy 

 studied it was siiflicient to collect lliem dnrinj>- the summer 

 and to preserve them for work dnrinfj;- the winter followinj;; 

 but when it becomes necessary to study the habits of animals 

 over lonj;- periods, their rate of growth and other similar ques- 

 tions, the observations must of necessity extend over long 

 periods of time, sometimes over many years, and summer work 

 alone no longer suflfices. 



^.\ T/ie work must be done by a permanent staff of investi- 

 gators. The pi'oblems of the lakes are not to be solved in a 

 day nor in a year. They will require the continuous labor of 

 many men for many years. I presume that the unsolved prob- 

 lems of agriculture are as numerous and as pressing as ever 

 in spite of the army of men that has for many years been at 

 work upon them. It is the same with the fisheries. In tw^enty 

 years some of their problems may be settled but there are sure 

 to be others quite as pressing. At present most of the scien- 

 tific work relating to the fisheries is in the hands of college or 

 university teachers who spend at it their summer vacations 

 and such time as they can spare besides. Such a condition of 

 things can be only temporary. Professor Birge has very well 

 said: ''With all due respect for the college professors, I don't 

 think they can do that work permanently." The men who do 

 the woi'k must have time to think about their problems, they 

 must live with them, day and night, year in and year out. 

 Time and a high order of ability are needed and these must be 

 well }taid. There is of course work that can be done by college 

 men during their vacation time and arrangements should be 

 made for their doing such work. My criticism here is not that 

 college men are engaged in this work but that they are en- 

 gaged in it to the exclusion of others. Their part sliould be 

 secondary, wiiereas it is now the principal part. Any plan 

 for the investigation of the lakes should include arrange- 

 ments whereby college men and others, not regular members 

 of the laboratory staff, may be provided with facilities for 

 carrying on their investigations: These facilities should be 

 provided without cost, and in certain cases investigators from 

 the colleges should be encouraged by financial aid and by 

 other means to carry on their investigations in connection 

 with a central laboratory. Thus, in addition to a permanent 

 staff of investigators, there should be a subsidiary staff drawn 

 largely from among university and college teachers. 



3. It follows that a permanent Jahoratori/k. needs to be estab- 

 lished. Such a laboratory should be located if possible near 

 both deep and shallow water. It should be uj)on the shore 

 of one of the Great Lakes, but at the same time u])on a good 



