MARINE PISCICULTURE 301 



decadent fishing industry, and that it would, in 

 the long run, be cheaper, and moreover would 

 not cause friction between the administration and 

 the fishermen. 



As I have said, restrictions were also applied ; 

 but, where artificial culture was practised by public 

 bodies, such, no doubt, was the line of argument 

 adopted, though not always clearly expressed. 

 The credit of having first practised fish-hatching 

 on a large scale belongs to the United States. 

 We have seen that the Fish Commission of that 

 country made it a most important department 

 of their work, and public fish-culture has been 

 carried on in North America, both by the United 

 States and Canada, to a greater extent than by 

 any European country. The method has con- 

 tinually been developed on the other side of 

 the Atlantic, and, judging from the reports of 

 the authorities, with conspicuous success. Great 

 encouragement was afforded by the striking results 

 which attended an experiment started in 1871. 

 The shad (Clupea (or Alosd] sapidissima) was an 

 important food-fish on the Atlantic seaboard of 

 North America, and it occurred to the officers 

 of the Fish Commission to attempt its introduction 

 on the Pacific side. Shad eggs were accordingly 

 obtained, were artificially fertilised and incubated, 

 and the larvae were introduced into suitable waters 

 on the eastern seaboard. In a few years, this 

 fish, which was previously unknown, became, 



