152 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



sea, and superior in every way to any boat used 

 in Europe. Applications are being constantly 

 received by the Commissioner for models, draw- 

 ings, and descriptions of this boat. 



"The original methods of fish-culture con- 

 sisted in allowing the natural current of water, 

 as that from a spring or hydrant, to pass through 

 wooden troughs, having on the bottom a layer 

 of gravel, among which the eggs were placed; 

 this essentially represents to this day the in- 

 ventive genius of Europe. The next mode was 

 in anchoring the trawls in a river so as to get 

 the natural flow of the water instead of de- 

 pending upon springs or hydrants. This, as at 

 first applied by Seth Green, rendered the hatch- 

 ing of shad practicable on a large scale. 



"Again, advancing on its own method of 

 having the eggs in actual layers and trays, the 

 United States devised the method of placing the 

 eggs in large vessels of a conical shape, and 

 allowing the water to come in at the bottom 

 and flow over at the top, by which means 

 enormous numbers can be hatched on a given 

 area. Such is the apparatus used to a con- 

 siderable extent by the United States at its 

 salmon-hatching establishments in Maine and 

 California. As the result, with a very small 

 fores of operatives, as many as fifteen millions 

 of eggs have been treated in a single season on 

 the Sacramento River hatchery a product 

 much more than that of all the salmon-hatch- 

 ing establishments, public and private, in Eu- 

 rope combined. 



"The funnel apparatus was next placed by 

 the United States Commission on floating scows, 

 so that the water used in developing the eggs 

 could be drawn directly from the subjacent 

 river where they were anchored. With this 

 was combined a form of buckets filled with 

 eggs and plunged up and down in the water 

 continually by means of steam-power. The 

 success of the method of the use of scows led 

 to the construction of a large steamer especially 

 fitted for this purpose and nearly ready for 

 usa, by which the amount of work of previous 

 seasons can be increased many fold. 



" The efforts of Europe in the artificial prop- 

 agation of fish have been confined chiefly to 

 the treatment of different species of salmon, 

 trout, and white-fish, and this by the rude 

 methods first indicated all breeding in fresh 

 water. The United States Fish Commission 

 first conceived the idea and made the experi- 

 maats of artificial impregnation of and hatch- 

 ing the eggs of the various sea-fishes, which 

 require a totally different treatment from the 

 eggs of fresh- water species, the latter sinking 

 to the bottom of the water, while the former 

 float on the surface. Experiments were prose- 

 cuted in the harbor of Gloucester in the hatch- 

 ing of eggs of the cod, during the winters of 

 1878-'79, which, after many failures, resulted 

 in entire success. The steamer referred to is 

 an essential factor in the work contemplated 

 for the future, being capable of producing hun- 

 dreds of millions of young fish in a single season. 



"The hatching of cod, mackerel, halibut, sea- 

 herring, and indeed any of the fish of our coast, 

 with the exception of the blue-fish and men- 

 haden (which do not spawn at a time when 

 they can be reached), becomes perfectly prac- 

 ticable. Not only can the old off-shore and 

 other grounds be increased in their productive- 

 ness, but new stations can be established. It 

 is especially anticipated that productive cod- 

 fisheries can be developed as far south as the 

 Chesapeake Bay or even Cape Hatteras, thus 

 giving lucrative occupation to a large class of 

 the community in the winter season, when the 

 cod would be on the coast and when other 

 fishing would be intermitted. The benefit to 

 the people of the South in this increase of a 

 supply of cheap fish-food during the winter 

 will of course be readily appreciated. The fit- 

 ful appearance and disappearance of mackerel 

 on the American coast can also, in a great 

 measure, be regulated. 



" It is hoped to transfer the general seat of 

 the cod and of the mackerel fisheries from the 

 distant Banks and the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 to the coast of the United States, thus settling 

 some very serious international fishery ques- 

 tions, and making the American cod-fisheries 

 especially similar to those of Norway, where 

 twenty-five thousand men are employed for four 

 months of the year in fishing in open boats, go- 

 ing out in the morning and returning at night. 



" The European nations, especially the Ger- 

 mans and Norwegians, have been kept advised 

 of the success of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission in the hatching of various species of 

 sea-fishes, through the public papers, but no 

 reports of the commission have appeared later 

 than that for 1877; they are without the de- 

 tailed information desired, most of the dis- 

 coveries having been made in 1878 and 1879. 



" European nations are aware that all the 

 more recent improvements in the hatching of 

 fish, both fresh-water and marine, have been 

 developed by the United States Commission, 

 and especially by Mr. T. B. Ferguson, the as- 

 sistant commissioner. The agents of the North 

 German Lloyd's have offered to carry the ex- 

 hibits of the United States at half rates, and 

 have asked permission of the director of the 

 company in Bremen to take them free of any 

 expense whatever. 



"These results show the advantages which 

 have already accrued from the action of Con- 

 gress in enabling this country to profit by the 

 discoveries and experiences of European nations 

 in the culture of fish." 



The joint resolution was adopted in the 

 House yeas 169, nays 70, not voting 54. It 

 was passed in the Senate and approved by the 

 President. 



In the House, on February 24th, the follow- 

 ing communication was received: 



To the House of Representatives : 



I transmit herewith a communication from the At- 

 torney-General with reference to the requisite appro- 

 priation for the current fiscal year for the compensation 



