XXII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH ANU FISHERIES. 



6. The work of increasiDg the supply of valuable fishes and other 

 aquatic forms iu the waters of the Uuited States, whether by artificial 

 propagation or by transplantation, although very successful, may be 

 considered as yet in its infancy. 



It must be remembered that the agencies which have tended to dimin- 

 ish the abundance of the fish have been at work for many years and 

 are increasing in an enormous ratio. This, taken in connection with 

 the rapid multiplication of the population of the United States, makes 

 the work an extremely difficult one. If the general conditions remained 

 the same as they were fifty years ago, it would be a very simple thing to 

 restore the former equilibrium. 



At that time, it must be remembered, the methods of preservation 

 and of wholesale transfer, by means of ice, were not known, while the 

 means of quick transportation were very limited. Hence a small num- 

 ber of fish supplied fully the demand, with the exception, of course, of 

 species that were salted down, like the cod, the mackerel, and the her- 

 ring (including the shad). Kow, however, the conditions are entirely 

 changed. The whole country participates in the benefits of a large cap- 

 ture of fish, and there is no danger of glutting the market, since any 

 surplus can be immediately frozen and shipped to a distance or held 

 until the occurrence of a renewed demand. 



Another impediment to the rapid accomplishment of the desired re- 

 sult is the absence of concurrent protective legislation of a sufficiently 

 stringent character to prevent unnecessary waste of the fish during the 

 critical period of spawning, and the erection or maintenance of imped- 

 iments to their movements in reaching the spawning grounds. This ig 

 especially the case with the shad and the salmon, where the simple con- 

 struction of an impassable dam, or the erection of a factory discharging 

 its poisonous waste into the water, may iu a few years entirely exter- 

 minate a successful and valuable fishery. 



It is to be hoped that public opinion will be gradually led up to the 

 necessity of action of the kind referred to, and that year by year a con- 

 tinued increase in the fisheries will be manifested. Even if this does 

 not occur as rapidily as some may hope, 4;he experiments so far furnish 

 the strongest arguments in favor of continuing the work for a reason- 

 able time. A diminution that has been going on for fifty or more years 

 is not to be overcome in ten, in view of the increasing obstacles already 

 referred to. 



Among the species, an increase of which in their appropriate places 

 and seasons is to be hoped for, iu addition to those now occupying the 

 attention of fish-culturists, are the cod, the halibut, the common mack 

 . erel, the Spanish mackerel, the striped bass, or rockfish, &c. 



One of the most important, and at the same time among the most 



promising, fish is the California trout, with which it is hoped to stock 



large areas of the country. Its special commendations will be found 



mentiouesd elsewhere. 



Another fishery earnestly calling for assistance, and capable of re- 



