206 FISH CULTUEE 



rivers to spawn, particularly the " mammy rock/' or 

 striped bass of 20 pounds or over, is responsible for 

 much of the diminishing supply. Loose methods of 

 fishing have had something to do with lessening the 

 number of white perch in many places, but as great 

 a factor is the unsuspicious character of the fish. Like 

 its cousin, the yellow perch, it is greedy. All the 

 members of a school will continue to bite at the 

 baited hook during the entire feeding period, un- 

 afraid, and regardless of the disappearance of their 

 companions. Hence, although the white perch is a 

 prolific breeder, it is not a difficult matter to deplete 

 waters in which they should be abundant. . 



Compared to the numbers which were there a quar- 

 ter of a century ago, white perch are scarce in the 

 Delaware River to-day, and they are also decreasing 

 in the Chesapeake Bay. There are signs of improve- 

 ment in the latter waters through the artificial propa- 

 gation conducted by the national government, and, 

 for a short period, by Maryland. This good work 

 has been hampered in the Delaware River by dif- 

 ficulty in getting ripe fish in sufficient numbers to 

 make it worth while to operate a hatchery during the 

 spawning season. 



White Perch. White perch ripen about 

 April. Spawn-takers in the Chesapeake strip 

 the fish, caught in nets for the market, by the 

 dry method. When first taken the eggs aver- 



