REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 35 



Commission, composed of five members, the president receiving a salary 

 of $5,000, and the others $1,000 per annum, with necessary expenses. 

 They appoint a chief warden and thirty-six deputies, all under salary. 

 New Jersey has a Fish and Game Commission of four members. The 

 law provides for the appointment of twenty-five wardens, at a salary of 

 $600 a year each, with an allowance of $200 a year for traveling 

 expenses. These wardens are appointed by the Board of Fish and Game 

 Commissioners, and out of the number so appointed the Board selects 

 one to be chief fish and game protector, at a salary of $1,200 a year. 



It will therefore be seen that Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, 

 and New Jersey all have large commissions, and the work is so divided 

 among them that each branch receives its merited attention, and with 

 their liberal appropriations they are able to employ a sufficient number 

 of men to thoroughly cover their territory. With the exception of 

 Ohio, these States are among the foremost in fish culture. With the 

 exception of New York and New Jersey, none of these States have 

 fisheries corresponding to our commercial fisheries, and this is true of 

 New York only to a very limited extent. On the other hand, with the 

 exception of the shell-fish industry, we have fisheries corresponding to 

 all those found in any of the above-mentioned States, and, in addition, 

 the salmon fishery, which ranks second in value in the United States; 

 consequently, our fisheries, being more extensive than any of the States 

 whose commissions advocate the consolidating of the management of 

 the fish and game interests, demand more attention from us than do 

 the fisheries of these other States. Our extended coast-line, along which 

 the fisheries are developing, and demanding more careful attention year 

 by year, is also a factor which does not enter into the work of any of 

 these States, except New York and New Jersey, and with them only to 

 a limited extent. Another factor entering into this comparison of the 

 work necessary for game protection in this and the States named, is our 

 vast area, almost equal to all of them combined. Quoting from the 

 report of the California Fish Commission for 1893-94: 



" There is but one State which exceeds us in area; nine that have 

 more salt-water area (gulfs, bays, sounds, etc.), and four that have 

 more fresh-water area (lakes, rivers, etc.); but six States have more 

 miles of developed coast-line (or main land in the direction of the 

 ocean), and but one State — Florida — has more miles in general or 

 straight coast-line." 



The Commission of Inland Fisheries and Game of Massachusetts 

 deems it wiser to consolidate the management of the two interests, but 

 from its reports we do not find that much attention is paid to game pro- 

 tection. They are given an appropriation of $14,000 per annum. The 

 other States favoring the consolidation referred to are Kansas and Utah. 

 Both being inland States, the management of the fish and game interests 



