5 
change has been fully justified by the addition of such 
persons, who have proven useful members. 
The formation of the Society was coeval with the intro- 
duction of practical fishculture into this country, and the 
necessity of such an organization as a useful aid to fisheul- 
ture, in the opinion of those who organized it, has been 
fully justified by its history. Its originally expressed ob- 
ject was to bring together, for consultation and into closer 
relationship, those who were interested in fishculture, di- 
rectly and indirectly. Those purposes have been fully 
subserved by the Society in all its past history, and the 
published records of its proceedings from year to year 
furnishes a record of the current advance that has been 
made from year to year in the work of artificial propaga- 
tion, the stocking of waters and the advance in fishcultural 
work. The papers submitted at its meetings on subjects of 
interest have been of great value, elicited discussion, and 
brought out new ideas which have been of advantage. 
There is perhaps no.country in which the importance of 
fishculture has been so generally recognized as in the 
United States. The commercial value of our sea and lake 
fisheries is very important, and the decay resulting from 
a long and protracted course of fishing, first challenged at- 
tention of the people to the institution by means of which 
the waste might be corrected and the loss made good. The 
general Government and the State Governments more than 
twenty years ago recognized the benefits to be derived from 
the work of artificial propagation, and at once commenced 
the establishment of hatcheries, and haye since liberally 
voted money for the establishment and maintenance of 
fishcultural work in the various States. 
The work of the Fish Commissions in this country has up 
to this time been mainly directed to the propagation and 
planting of fish in the sea, lakes and streams. This work 
has been most successful, and the waters thus planted are 
a standing object lesson of the value of this undertaking. 
