American Fisheries Society. 109 
equally true that no eggs can be obtained from any of the fish 
caught before the spawning season. 
But it is a fact that of the fish caught on the reefs during 
the spawning season, from fifty to seventy per cent are spawning, 
and putting it at the lowest estimate, we then have an increase 
over nature of about 13,829 fry to the fish, or where nature pro- 
duces 1,000,000 fry we produce 40,000,000, besides giving em- 
ployment to hundreds of men, and furnishing a supply of the 
very best food to the people. 
Now if the above statements are borne out by the facts, and it 
is a good thing to have a closed season at all, why would it not 
be better to prohibit fishing during the months of July and Au- 
gust, at a time when it is next to impossible to get the fish to 
market in a wholesome condition, and allow the fish to be taken 
during the spawning season, when the greater per cent of the 
eggs can be secured and hatched and the resulting fry returned 
to the water, thus securing to a certainty the perpetuation of the 
industry, and furnishing a large supply of one of the most whole- 
some foods that nature has bestowed upon man ? 
At the close of our meeting at Woods Hole last year, a num- 
ber of us were permitted to visit several of the private trout 
farms where they make a business of rearing fish for market, 
and supplying eggs and fry to others who are going into the busi- 
ness or who are desirous of stocking streams, and it was noticed 
that at each place the plant was equipped with a hatchery, rear- 
ing ponds and all the equipment necessary to carry on the work 
of propagation. 
Now, if it is better to have a closed season in order to let the 
fish reproduce, why have these men gone to all the trouble and 
expense of erecting hatcheries, supplying themselves with appa- 
ratus, ete., for the work? Why not, when they have the fish, the 
stream and everything under their own control, keep away and 
allow the fish to reproduce in a natural manner and in large 
quantities? Why? Because these men are in it for profit and 
they know that if they trust to nature their stock will be ex- 
tremely small, and their profits correspondingly light. 
But, says the protectionist, “Do you not then believe in any 
form of protection for the fishing industry?” Certainly we do. 
We believe in having laws made for the protection of the fish, and 
