OUR FISH IMMIGRANTS 



By Hugh M. Smith 

 Deputy U. S. Commissioner op Fisheries 



ONE of the most important, exten- 

 sive, and interesting lines of 

 utilitarian work conducted by 

 the federal government is the transplant- 

 ing of native aquatic animals into waters 

 in which they are not indigenous, and the 

 introduction of fishes of foreign countries 

 into the United States. Most people are 

 familiar with the economically important 

 results of acclimatizing foreign species or 

 varieties of mammals and birds in our 

 country, and every one can recall some of 

 the many valuable vegetables, fruits, and 

 other plant products that are immigrants ; 

 but comparatively few people are aware of 

 the systematic and varied measures that 

 have been taken by the government for 

 increasing and enriching the supply of 

 food and game fishes of every section of 

 the country, and still fewer realize the ex- 

 tent to which the commercial fisherman, 

 the sportsman, the youthful angler, the 

 farmer, and the public in general are in- 

 debted to the National Bureau of Fish- 

 eries and the state fish commissions for 

 providing many kinds of useful creatures 

 that did not originally inhabit given 

 waters. 



OBJECTS OF ACCLIMATIZATION 



When we contemplate our wonderful 

 aquatic resources — unsurpassed as a 

 whole for variety, abundance, and excel- 

 lence — the question naturally arises as to 

 the necessity for planting non-indigenous 

 species in any of our waters. The occa- 

 sion for such efforts comes from a num- 

 ber, of conditions which have been duly 

 considered by the authorities; among 

 these are : 



(i) The depletion of the indigenous 



fishes of given waters and the inability to 

 secure the reestablishment of those species, 

 either by restrictive measures or by arti- 

 ficial propagation, owing to changed or 

 changing physical or biological condi- 

 tions. 



(2) The possibility of enriching the fish 

 fauna of a given water by introducing 

 more useful species than already exist 

 therein or by affording a greater variety 

 of fishes for food and sport. 



(3) The existence of physical or other 

 conditions more inimical or unfavorable 

 to the native fishes than to other fishes 

 that might be introduced. 



(4) The possibility of relieving the 

 ■drain on native species by providing new 



objects for the pursuit of the angler and 

 the commercial fisherman. 



(5) The desirability of reducing the 

 abundance or securing the extermination 

 of noxious fishes and other water animals 

 by planting fishes which will prey thereon. 



Features of aquatic acclimatization 

 which may be noted especially are the in- 

 terchange of products between the east- 

 ern and western parts of the country, the 

 introduction of eastern fishes into new 

 waters of the east, and the importation 

 into the United States of fishes from 

 foreign countries. This work has af- 

 fected not only the lake and pond fishes, 

 but also the migratory river fishes of both 

 seaboards and some strictly salt-water 

 forms; and since, for practical purposes, 

 the term "fish" has generally been con- 

 strued as meaning every kind of animal 

 taken from the water for profit or pleas- 

 ure, the operations have involved many 

 creatures that the biologist would not 

 class as fish. 



