70 Twenfy-uinfJi Annual Meeting 



And then came the tug fishermen. And with the advent of 

 the tugs came a marked increase in the number of nets used. 

 Methods of handhng nets and fish have been improved. Steam 

 lifting apparatus has taken the place of men, and it is now possible 

 to lift nets on a single tug at the rate of four miles an hour, and 

 it is not an unusual thing for fishermen to set a single gang of 

 nets fifteen miles in length. 



John O'Xeil, a prominent commercial fisherman at Charle- 

 voix, informed me that upon the 29th day of last October (the 

 last day of the open season) he had seventy-five miles of gill- 

 nets in the water. 



But to return to the sawdust and ofifal matter: It became 

 apparent in the course of time that the fish supply in the Great 

 Lakes was decreasing, and in 1865 the Legislature passed an act 

 making it unlawful to "put into any of the waters of this State 

 where fish were taken, any ofifal, blood, putrid fish, or filth of any 

 description," and imposing a penalty of $300.00 for its violation. 



Special acts were also passed regulating the manner of taking 

 fish in the inland lakes in some of the counties. In 1871 the first 

 general fish law was passed. It regulated the manner of taking 

 fish, both in the Great Lakes and in the inland waters. 



Still the depletion continued, and in 1873 a law was enacted 

 "to establish a Board of Commissioners to increase the product 

 of the fisheries, and to make an appropriation therefor." This 

 act appropriated $7,500.00 for the use of the Commission for each 

 of the years 1873 ^""^^ 1874 to cover all expenses, both the building 

 of a hatchery and the necessary expenses of the Commission, and 

 it was their duty "to supervise generally the fishing interests, and 

 secure the enforcement of all the laws relating to the protection 

 of fish and fisheries in the State." 



No compensation has ever been allowed any member of the 

 Board. They have served the State absolutely without pay. Uni- 

 formly men of broad gauge and thoroughly in love with their 

 work, they have served the State faithfully and well, and the per- 

 fectly appointed hatcheries, with their beautiful buildings, the in- 



