and the Maritime Provinces. 



447 



proper restrictions upon the taking and killing of fish, shell-fish, bivalves, 

 and game ; the promotion of the culture of fish and game, and the intro- 

 duction of new species and varieties of fish and game, and to disseminate 

 information relating thereto. 



Hon. George W. Wigoin, Boston. 



Ex-President and Counsel Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association. 



" From its beginning the association became actively engaged in carry- 

 ing out the objects for which it had been chartered. The records show 

 that the attention of its members was early directed to such subjects as the 

 preservation of fish in our inland lakes and streams, the decrease of fish 

 in Massachusetts bay, the destruction of lobsters on our coast, the pres- 

 ervation of trout in our streams, the seining of smelts in our bays. 



" That there was abundant need of action on the part of some one is 

 shown by the following lines which I have copied from those records : 

 ' But the most important phase of the subject relates to the future supply 

 of fish. Last year (1874) we were nearly deprived of smelt ; full-grown 

 lobsters are now almost unknown ; while trout and salmon have hardly yet, 

 under the influence of stringent protective laws for several years, recovered 

 from the effects of their almost total annihilation by being caught while in 

 spawn, before the laws were enforced.' 



