﻿6 
  WATER-POWER 
  DEVELOPMENT 
  IN 
  THE 
  MISSISSIPPI. 
  

  

  a 
  study, 
  not 
  only 
  of 
  fishways, 
  but 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  migratory 
  habits 
  of 
  

   fishes. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  view 
  that 
  power 
  development 
  should 
  be 
  sacri- 
  

   ficed 
  to 
  fisheries, 
  but 
  we 
  are 
  shortsighted, 
  indeed, 
  if 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  give 
  

   thoughtful 
  consideration 
  to 
  minimizing 
  any 
  possible 
  sacrifice 
  to 
  

   fisheries 
  that 
  such 
  developments 
  may 
  entail 
  and 
  to 
  enhancing 
  such 
  

   advantages 
  as 
  they 
  may 
  afford. 
  In 
  all 
  the 
  active 
  discussion 
  of 
  

   water-power 
  problems 
  there 
  is 
  almost 
  a 
  painful 
  absence 
  of 
  reference 
  

   to 
  the 
  fisheries 
  aspects, 
  notwithstanding 
  that 
  the 
  food 
  produced 
  by 
  

   the 
  American 
  fresh-water 
  fisheries 
  amounts 
  to 
  upward 
  of 
  330,000,000 
  

   pounds, 
  with 
  a 
  value 
  to 
  the 
  fishermen 
  alone 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  $12,000,000 
  

   and 
  a 
  value 
  to 
  the 
  consumers 
  far 
  exceeding 
  this 
  amount. 
  

  

  NEW 
  CONDITIONS 
  AND 
  PROBABLE 
  EFFECT 
  UPON 
  MOVEMENTS 
  OF 
  

  

  FISHES. 
  

  

  The 
  writer 
  approaches 
  this 
  inquiry 
  with 
  the 
  conviction 
  that 
  the 
  

   measure 
  of 
  importance 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  is 
  not 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  existing 
  state 
  of 
  the 
  fishery 
  .'^ 
  The 
  possibilities 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  and 
  other 
  great 
  rivers 
  will 
  be 
  realized 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  

   future, 
  near 
  or 
  remote, 
  when, 
  under 
  the 
  pressure 
  of 
  economic 
  con- 
  

   ditions, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  illumination 
  of 
  a 
  more 
  adequate 
  knowledge 
  of 
  

   the 
  needs 
  of 
  fish 
  life, 
  fish 
  conservation 
  will 
  be 
  more 
  of 
  an 
  actuality 
  

   than 
  at 
  present. 
  We 
  will 
  then 
  not 
  only 
  comprehend 
  the 
  essential 
  

   importance 
  of 
  conditions 
  favorable 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  fish 
  food 
  

   and 
  to 
  the 
  natural 
  propagation 
  of 
  fishes, 
  but 
  we 
  will 
  know 
  how 
  to 
  

   supply 
  the 
  necessary 
  conditions. 
  The 
  further 
  belief 
  may 
  be 
  ex- 
  

   pressed 
  that 
  the 
  future 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  Lake 
  Cooper, 
  as 
  the 
  large 
  body 
  

   of 
  repressed 
  water 
  above 
  the 
  Keokuk 
  dam 
  is 
  now 
  known, 
  will 
  prove 
  

   to 
  be 
  an 
  important 
  factor 
  in 
  supplying 
  such 
  conditions 
  and 
  possibly 
  

   may 
  rival 
  Lake 
  Pepin 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  by 
  offering 
  so 
  large 
  an 
  acreage, 
  

   or 
  mileage, 
  of 
  comparatively 
  still 
  water 
  provided 
  with 
  shoals 
  and 
  

   bays 
  sure 
  to 
  be 
  replete 
  with 
  vegetation, 
  and 
  practically 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  

   deleterious 
  conditions 
  incident 
  to 
  the 
  excessive 
  rise 
  and 
  fall 
  charac- 
  

   teristic 
  of 
  ordinary 
  river 
  conditions. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  tragedies 
  of 
  fish 
  life, 
  catastrophic 
  in 
  degree 
  at 
  times, 
  

   that 
  the 
  spawning 
  grounds 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  during 
  spring 
  floods 
  far 
  

   from 
  the 
  main 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  where 
  an 
  untimely 
  recession 
  -wiU 
  

   leave 
  a 
  generation 
  of 
  young 
  fish 
  isolated 
  in 
  some 
  overflow 
  pond, 
  and 
  

   marked 
  for 
  destruction 
  unless 
  reclaimed 
  by 
  the 
  agency 
  of 
  Govern- 
  

   ment 
  or 
  State. 
  Such 
  fish 
  destruction 
  is 
  evident, 
  and 
  of 
  common 
  

   knowledge, 
  but 
  that 
  which 
  occurs 
  when 
  the 
  flood 
  stage 
  comes 
  late 
  

   and 
  after 
  the 
  fish 
  have 
  found 
  nests 
  in 
  the 
  originally 
  shallow 
  waters 
  

   of 
  the 
  river 
  banks 
  at 
  low 
  stage, 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  guessed 
  at. 
  Accordingly, 
  

   the 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  interpolation 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  river, 
  

  

  a 
  The 
  fisheries 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries 
  yielded 
  in 
  1908, 
  as 
  showti 
  by 
  the 
  census 
  report, 
  

   food 
  products 
  of 
  a 
  value 
  well 
  upward 
  of 
  $2,000,000. 
  

  

  