2828 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



They have not done anything yet in regard to lake herring, but white- 

 fish, which is a much more valuable fish, is being carefully guarded. 



Q. What States of the American Union are engaged in the breeding 

 of whitefish? A. Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 



Q. What has been the success generally of the fish-breeding system 

 by artificial means? A. It is now being practiced to such an extent in 

 Canada and the United States as to show it is a very efficient mode of 

 preventing the diminution of fish, and even of increasing the supply. It 

 has passed the region of experiment, and it is a positive fact as shown 

 by the large appropriations made on both sides of the border for this 

 purpose. It commands the respect and consideration of men of all part- 

 ies, and in our own country, at least, there is no difficulty in getting all 

 appropriations that can profitably be expended to secure the result. 



Q. It extends not only to the fish of the great lakes, but to river 

 fish? A. To salmon, shad, striped bass, and ale wives. 



Q. You find as the result that a much larger proportion of the eggs 

 are turned into fish than when left to natural exposures and dangers ! 

 A. An ordinary estimate in regard to shad is that under natural spawn- 

 ing 995 out of 1,000 eggs perish without producing a young fish able to 

 feed for itself, and that you get five young fish which reach the stage 

 of ability to feed for themselves; that is, after their, fins are properly 

 formed, and the fish is three-eighths of an inch in length. They have 

 then passed the ordinary perils of infancy, and are able to take care of 

 themselves. With artificial spawning, a fish culturist who could not 

 bring out 950 of 1,000 eggs to that state would be considered as ignorant 

 of his business, except some unusual circumstance that could not be 

 controlled should come in to interfere. 



Q. Can you tell the Commission how many traps and pounds there are 

 in the southern part of New England, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and 

 Massachusetts, at Martha's Vineyard, and all along to Cape Cod ? A. 

 There are 22 traps on the south side of Cape Cod, in the bays and basins 

 about Chatham, 9 in Vineyard Sound, 30 at Buzzard's Bay, 3 at Block 

 Island, 30 in Narraganset Bay. This year there have been 94 traps 

 and pounds on the southern coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 

 exclusive of Connecticut. I have not the figures for Connecticut here. 

 This number represents the traps and pounds from Narraganset Bay 

 to the eastern end of Cape Cod. 



Q. Have they been increasing? .A. Yes; they are ve.y measurably 

 greater in number than they were when I made my first census. 



Q. Can you state the number of men who are employed on those 

 traps ? A. The number of men required to man the traps is 436, the 

 traps requiring seven men each, taking 301. 



Q. Your agent would know each of those traps? A. I have the name 

 of the owner, and the catch of the greater portion of them. 



Q. Can you tell the Commission the catch of those traps and pounds! 

 A. I have here a table of the yield of that number of pounds in 1876. 



Q. Give the result. A. For some of the species, the figures are very 

 accurate, and for others they are estimated to some extent, but this 

 estimate is essentially a record of the year, so far as they have reported 

 it themselves, corrected by the personal observation of one at least of 

 my men, who has taken a standard pound, and meted it every day him- 

 self, and enumerated the catch and the kinds of fish. The total catch 

 for 1876 included flounders, tautog, mackerel, Spanish mackerel, pom- 

 peno, butter fish, squiteagle, scup, sea-bass, striped bass, bluefish, 

 meublades, eels, cod, alewives, and herring. The total catch for the 

 year was 34,274,350 pounds. That is from Narragausett Bay to the 





