American Fisheries Society. 67 
not stand that; that alone would have the tendency to destroy 
the shad fisheries in the river. 
We had another drawback this spring in the very cold 
weather, which probably lessened the shad in our river. It is a 
very serious matter because not only are the shad decreasing in 
the Delaware, but I believe also in all the rivers along the Atlan- 
tic Coast. Is not that true? 
Mr. Titcomb: In North Carolina on the Roanoke River they 
passed a law prohibiting the use of pound nets in certain parts 
of the lower bays. As a result the Bureau hatched over 
20,000,000 eggs at the Edenton station on the Albemarle Sound 
the last season, as against an average of from 3,000,000 to 
5,000,009 during the years before the law went into effect. 
Mr. Meehan: That shows what can be done by proper pro- 
tection. I think the real solution of the problem lies in federal 
control. This society passed a resolution last year reeommend- 
ing federal control, and in conformity with that resolution in my 
report goes the recommendation to the legislature, that Pennsyl- 
vanmia with the concurrence of other states will cede to the United 
States federal control on the Great Lakes and on rivers of the 
border states. 
Mr. Nevin: For the last two or three years fishermen have 
told me that they have seen more fish near the surface of the 
water in Lake Superior than they ever saw before. They have 
seen schools of whitefish and lake trout so large that they did not 
think it possible that so many fish were in the lake. There was a 
time some thirty years ago when there was no more fish caught in 
the waters of Lake Superior than there have been the past two 
seasons. ‘The water is so clear that, during the summer months, 
when there are many nets in the water, the fishermen tell me 
that they see thousands of fish feed along and pass by the nets. 
If the fish are coming in full force straight for the net they 
will rise and go over it. I claim that the fish have seen so much 
twine in the water that they are becoming educated and keep 
shy of it when possible. Any fisherman knows that fish do not 
run into nets during the day time and that there are not many 
fish caught during calm, still weather; also, they do not catch 
