THE FISHERIES OF ILLINOIS CXXV11 



COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, FISHERIES ILLINOIS RIVER, 1897 AND 1901 concluded 



A large part of the increased yield is doubtless due, how- 

 ever, to a mere enlargement of fishing operations, illustrated by 

 the data for 1894 and 1899, which show that the number of men 

 empk^ed increased in the interval between these years by 44 

 per cent, and the capital invested by 44J4 per cent. This 

 favorable condition of our fisheries is doubtless due in part to 

 natural conditions, and evidently also in great measure to state 

 leg slation effectively controlling the times and methods of 

 capture, and providing for the recovery and restoration, to 

 streams suitable for their maintenance, of fishes left stranded on 

 the river bottoms by the retreat of the waters of overflow. 



It will be seen from the foregoing that the Illinois River, 

 with its tributary lakes and streams, is by far the most important 

 fishing ground within the boundaries of Illinois, and that this 

 stream and its dependencies are gifts of nature to the state, 

 valuable in many ways, which we should fully appreciate and 

 utilize to the best advantage, allowing no single interest to 

 destroy or overshadow any other. Measures for its utilization 

 as a sewage outlet for great cities and as a commercial highway 

 between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, and for the recla- 

 mation of its enormously fertile bottom-lands, should not be 

 taken without due regard to its importance and promise as a 

 perpetual source of cheap and healthful food to the people of 

 the state and country. 



