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~ count his fry by hundreds of millions. | He expects to hatch whitefish, salmon 
trout, and wall-eyed pike, and may incidentally try to establish a run of salt 
_ water salmon such as formerly existed. 
Mr. WHITAKER: And which is now being successfully accomplished on the 
Penobscot River. 
The CHAIRMAN : Is the appropriation now sufficient to complete the building 7 
Mr. Smit: No, it is only sufficient to get the site. But the money for the 
building will probably be got within a month or so. 
Mr. WHITAKER: May I add one word to what I have said. The fisheries upon the 
Detroit twenty years ago were wonderfully profitable. A man who was engaged in 
fishing at Belle Isle in 1870 says he caught $75,000 worth of whitefish. But the 
sewage from the City of Detroit has killed off the fish to a great extent. At 
Fort Wayne there is a fishery known as Craig’s Fishery where they get about 
2,000 whitefish annually, and that is not twenty-five rods from where there is the 
mouth of a double sewer coming out. Either the instinct of the fish is so strong 
that they will come there until they are extinguished, or they are not affected by 
_ the sewerage, owing to the way in which the sewerage gets disseminated. There 
is a marked difference between this fishery and those on the Canadian side, 
~ which exceed our catch by 2,000 or 3,000 fish. 7 
Mr. AMSDEN: What is your experience with fish returned to the water ? 
: Mr. WHITAKER: We have none, because we have not done so. We put them 
into a grating with the water constantly flowing through. 
Mr. AMSDEN: After they are stripped do you think they live ? 
&. Mr. WHITAKER: Yes, we keep them there in the grates ready for the market 
for five or six weeks. We have two or three semi-interior lakes in our state 
_ where fish run in for spawning purposes. We have been planting one or two of 
_ these lakes very heavily to draw our ova from there. We think that is an in- 
exhaustible source of supply. 
Mr. SKINNER: Regarding the establishment of the hatchery, I might add, 
that last Monday morning, I had the pleasure of aecompanying the United 
_ States Fish Commission’s engineer to some springs in the vicinity of 
Clayton, and last Saturday morning he was on hand again with his in- 
_ struments and proceeded to these springs early in the morning. Mr. Grant 
promised me to forward a report of the examination of the springs, for 
the reason that it was said that Commissioner McDonald was to be present 
here to-day, and he desired me to explain to him what they had succeeded in 
finding. I may say that Colonel Gore expressed himself very well pleased with 
the supply of water and the lay of the land in that vicinity. It is distant about 
two miles from the river's shore. I may add also, in connection with the matter, | 
that adjacent to the river's shore, is the same locality where the State Commission 
for the past two years have authorized the use of nets for the taking of whitefish 
jae ©6= Spawn. , 
Mr. AMsDEN: In regard to what Dr. Smith has said in regard to the progress 
being made by the United States in establishing a hatchery, I am anxious to see 
it brought about as soon as possible and without any delay. And I think we 
should bring our influence to bear on the authorities at Washington to get all 
_ the funds necessary, and for that purpose I offer this resolution, which is seconded 
by Mr. Whitaker: 
. “ Resolved, That the representatives from the states represented at this 
_ meeting respectfully recommend and urge upon the representatives in congress 
