OUR VANISHING FOOD FISH 



549 



CONSERVATION OF SALMON. 

 THE SPAWN OF THE LANDLOOCKED SALMON is TAKEN FROM THE FISH AT GRAND LAKE STREAM, 



MAINE, FOR THE HATCHERIES. 



in from the ocean and attempt to pro- 

 ceed up the Bay to spawn. In addi- 

 tion to this maze of line nets, there are 

 thousands of gill and pound nets at fre- 

 quent intervals in the path of the shad, 

 conveniently placed for his capture and 

 destruction. A few years ago the State 

 of Virginia was licensing only fifteen 

 hundred of these pound nets ; two years 

 ago they had increased to about twenty- 

 five hundred ; and last year Virginia 

 was licensing four thousand of them. 



These nets work twenty- four hours 

 every day in the week, and are the 

 most relentless agency of destruction 

 it has so far been within the ingenuity 

 of man to invent. 



It is obvious that if the shad cannot 

 reach the spawning grounds they do 

 not reproduce, hence, must continue to 

 diminish. 



The effect of this unrestricted net- 

 ting is eloquently attested by the de- 

 creases in the catches of the fishermen. 



