330 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



reason for prohibiting the more perfect kinds of apparatus which are 

 not actually vicious in their effects, provided the quantity of fish 

 allowed to be taken is properly restricted. In the competition which 

 pervades all industries it would indeed be unwise to require adherence 

 to old-time practices, whereby the price of fish would be proportionally 

 increased above that of other classes of our food supply. 



It is to be recalled in this connection that the fishery products of a 

 country are, as a rule, the property of the public as represented by the 

 state or sovereign, despite the very prevalent idea that they belong 

 solely to those who seek them. The fishermen rank practically as ten- 

 ants, at some times paying for their privileges, at others not, when 

 their status is more like that of a squatter on the public lands. Consid- 

 ering the ignorance or indifference with which the matter has always 

 been treated by the people and the fishermen alike, it is not surprising 

 that most of the older fisheries within restricted areas have been so 

 greatly despoiled, and that newly discovered ones should be looked 

 upon more for the opportunities for si^eculation they afford than as 

 resources which can and should be made lasting. 



The trouble arises chiefly from the fact that, except in a few respects, 

 water territory can not be managed in the same manner as the land, 

 in regard to which the individual is held primarily responsible in the 

 economy of government. The land, for instance, is customarily divided 

 up and passes under private control for such purposes as those of agri- 

 culture and mining. Crops are sown and harvested and rock products 

 are extracted as suits the needs or pleasure of the possessor of the 

 ground. The extent to which his industry is carried requires the 

 dictates of no other law than that of self-preservation or advancement. 

 Should he be neglectful or wasteful it redounds to his own injury, 

 while with thrift and care his returns may be many times increased. 

 If he fails in his obligations to himself the community as such is not 

 supposed to suffer. 



With regard to the fisheries it is very different. While certain 

 sedentary products of the sea, such as oysters, may be farmed out, so 

 to speak, and small ponds and streams may be treated as individual 

 belongings, the great bulk of aquatic animals is not subject to private 

 management. Most fishes, and especially those of much commercial 

 value, are wanderers, whose confinement within artificial barriers is 

 impossible. Thus, were the fisherman to plant, his crops would be 

 shared by all alike; he could neither inclose them nor define them, nor 

 would his personal efforts be of any avail in promoting the general 

 welfare. The fisheries must, therefore, be administered upon by the 

 state as a common holding, and the laws relating to them must not 

 only regulate the behavior of those who participate, but also limit and 

 define the extent and manner of their participation. This is entirely 

 in line with the state control of waters for all other purposes, such as 

 navigation, and in conformity with the customs of all nations. 



