A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 515 



tributed from the combined hatchery systems over 11,000,000,000 

 fish and eggs during 1932, of which approximately 1,000,000,000 

 comprised game species planted in interior waters and directly affected 

 by the relationships of forests to waters. It should further be pointed 

 out that there is an interchangeability between the game fishes and 

 the so-called commercial varieties. With one or two exceptions, all of 

 the so-called commercial varieties of the interior section are taken to 

 some extent by the angler for recreation, and in many instances 

 anadromous forms (fish which migrate from salt water to fresh water 

 for spawning) are likewise sought by the angler. 



IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING AREAS FOR PUBLIC FISHING 



There is at the present time a tendency, possibly more emphatic 

 in connection with game, but readily noticeable as ^ regards fish, 

 toward the exclusion of the public from the more desirable angling 

 waters. Private ownership has not as yet taken an extensive hold 

 in the exploitation of the commercial fisheries of the interior waters. 

 As regards angling, however, private ownership now frequently yields 

 to a favored few the privileges of angling which the country has been 

 accustomed to view as a general public right. Landowners under 

 trespassing laws may in many States prohibit access by the public to 

 waters on their property. 



Clubs are leasing extensively desirable stretches of water, which 

 forces the casual fisherman of limited financial resources to travel 

 farther and farther afield for catches which are becoming increasingly 

 unsatisfactory. The importance of this condition in the more thickly 

 populated sections is indicated by the action of the State of Connecti- 

 cut in leasing private streams or leasing fishing rights for the public. 

 The commendation which has followed this plan in Connecticut and 

 the favor with which it is viewed elsewhere is an example of the 

 lengths to which a commonwealth may have to go in order to insure 

 the perpetuation of a right which was considered inalienable a few 

 years ago. In the State of New Jersey, for example, it is apparent 

 that the major part of public fishing is maintained solely by hatchery 

 operations. In one sense, the purchase of a fishing license in that State 

 is a transaction which has the element of sale of game fish produced by 

 the funds derived from the license income. The hatcheries produce 

 sufficient fish to provide the angler a reasonable chance for a reason- 

 able catch, and the waters are, in a sense, administered by the State 

 for the purpose of providing an expendable resource in the form of 

 game fish. An essential feature of the successful working of this 

 system is an adequate mileage of public waters accessible to everyone 

 who has paid the license fee. Where there is a considerable proportion 

 of the fishing waters restricted to private use the hatchery operations 

 are futile and the whole program fails. Therefore, lands held in 

 public ownership or control for forestry purposes are a double insur- 

 ance against the ultimate disappearance of public fishing by virtue 

 of the fact that they furnish the maximum natural provision for the 

 survival of fish life and make this resource available to all. Waters 

 leased exclusively for the provision of public fishing, as is the case in 

 Connecticut, represent a charge against fisheries conservation funds. 

 The retention of lands for public forestation or forest-management 

 programs brings the above benefits without cost in addition to the 



