I?<> 



IVIKOIH < Tlo\ TO TIIK (LASS OK FISHES 



the methods <>f Mm- Biological Survey. The following is from 

 the annual report of Commissioner Smith for the year 1913: 



'The inosi serious conditions with which the Bureau has 

 to contend, however, are of an artificial nature. The con- 

 struction of dams without efficienl fish ways; the operation of 

 nets in prohibited waters, or at the mouths of streams, thus 

 preventing I lie adult fish from reaching I heir spawning- 

 grounds; ;iikI the destruction <>l' fishes and fish-food through 

 water-pollution, are some of the factors which nullify ilie 

 fish-cultural work of the Bureau in sonic sections <>l' the coun- 

 l ry ; while the failure of some of I Ik* states to enacl or en force 

 adequate protective laws, and 1 1 1< * disposition of others to 

 appropriate i<> their own use fields which have been developed 

 and are already occupied by llic Bureau, lend to hamper «"iu<l 

 curtail its acl ivil ies." 



The \'\li i; of Fish Statistics. Many persons regard 

 figures and statistics as dry reading, and inventions of the 

 enemy. To Mie giddy mind they do not appeal. To the 

 wise reader they are when properly chosen and set forth 

 valuable means i<> a Keller understanding of the affairs and 

 the interlocking relations of men. 



To the angler who thinks only of Permachine belles and 

 silver doctors, figures relating i<> the annual output of black 

 bass and other game fishes may seem wearisome and unprofit- 

 able; Imi even in fishing, good figures have their uses. The 



present COSl of heel' and mill Ion invests our food fishes wilh 



new interest; and we liold thai ii is important to know how 



Well or how ill I he supply is holding OUt in I he various see 



lions of our country. In the mailer of geographical distribu- 



