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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 301 



and Muskingum in Ohio, the Blue River in Indiana, about twenty 

 rivers and ponds in Illinois, the Barren and Green Rivers in Ken- 

 tucky, and the Current River in Missouri, besides a number of 

 lakes, Geneva Lake in Wisconsin, and the Blue, Beaver, and Al- 

 corn Rivers in Nebraska. The varieties of edible fishes planted in 

 these rivers include all the common kinds, such as spotted cat, 

 crappie, or fresh-water drum, several species of bass, white perch, 

 and pickerel. 



On the Pacific coast the propagation of salmon was renewed, and 

 during the season about five million salmon-fry were placed in the 

 Columbia and McCIoud Rivers and in the shorter streams on the 

 coasts of California and Oregon. 



On the Great Lakes the propagation of whitefish has been con- 

 tinued, but on a far greater scale than ever before. 



In former days the inshore cod and halibut fisheries on the 

 coast of New England were exceedingly valuable, as they still are 

 on the Pacific coast. Thousands of men of small means, and own- 

 ing little boats and comparatively primitive apparatus, earned com- 

 fortable livings by fishing for cod in the Gulf of Maine, Massa- 

 chusetts and Cape Cod Bays, Vineyard Sound, Long Island Sound, 

 and at many other points along the coast. The fishes were taken 

 in abundance and sold fresh, — the most profitable way to the fish- 

 erman. But this source of wealth has been largely destroyed by 

 over-fishing; and in few places along the whole coast of New Eng- 

 land, outside of Ipswich Bay, are the cod plentiful enough to pay 

 the fishermen for attempting to take them. To catch cod or hali- 

 but in large quantities now, one must go to the offshore banks ; and 

 this a majority of these inshore fishermen are too poor to do, or 

 they have domestic ties that keep them at home, or they think the 

 risk too great or the labor too severe to be compensated for by the 

 average ' fares.' The halibut were the first to disappear, and the 

 cod and lobsters have also been caught up ; so that now all three 

 are very scarce. These inshore cod never migrate to the offshore 

 banks. During a part of the season they remain quite near the 

 shore, and later move out into deeper water, but never to a great 

 distance from the points where they are found during the fishing- 

 season. 



In 1878 it was demonstrated by experiments made by the United 

 States Fish Commission that the eggs of the inshore cod could be 

 artificially hatched, and that the small fishes that survived would re- 

 turn to the shore the next year. A majority of the young, cod 

 were, however, killed that year by anchor-ice. Several times sub- 

 sequently small quantities of inshore codfish-eggs were artificially 

 hatched, but last year the hatching of these codfish-eggs was be- 

 gun on a large scale. The result was entirely satisfactory. Thou- 

 sands of the young cod that were hatched during the season of 

 18S7 were seen last spring and summer, and there is no longer any 

 doubt that the inshore fisheries of the New England coast may be 

 restored. This will be as important a result (probably more impor- 

 tant) as the work which the Fish Commission has accomplished in 

 regard to stocking rivers with shad ; and, according to conserva- 

 tive estimates, the increase in the supply of this valuable food-fish, 

 as a result of the work of the commission, is, in actual value, very 

 much greater than the entire cost of the commission, with all its 

 varied work, from the time of its foundation to the present. 



Preparations have now been made for the artificial propagation 

 of inshore cod during the present season on an immense scale. 

 The stations have a capacity for handling four hundred million 

 eggs ; and, if the season is favorable, about one-fourth of that num- 

 ber will probably be hatched. The principal obstacles are stormy 

 weather and anchor-ice. 



In Maine and upon the Hudson River the work of propagating 

 salmon has been prosecuted during the past season. 



During the last twelve months, new fish-commission stations 

 have been established or re-opened, as follows : Clackamas sta- 

 tion on the Columbia River, and Baird station on the McCloud 

 River, for salmon-work, put into operation again ; an extensive 

 station at Duluth for the propagation of whitefish and trout ; a large 

 station at Gloucester, Mass., for the hatching of the eggs of inshore 

 cod. The United States Fish Commission is operating, during the 

 present season, the State station at Sandusky, O., in the propaga- 

 tion of whitefish. Congress, during its late session, provided for a 

 large station at Neosho, Mo., for the propagation of trout and the 



indigenous fishes of the region. This will be completed by the end 

 of the fiscal year, and is expected to benefit Missouri, Arkansas, 

 Kansas, Texas, and western Louisiana. 



The most extensive and important work done by the Fish Com- 

 mission during the past season, in the way of exploration with a 

 view to future practical results, was that accomplished by the 

 steamer ' Albatross ' on the Pacific coast. This steamer, which, 

 since she was built five years ago, had been engaged in work on 

 the Atlantic coast, started around the Horn after the close of last 

 season. She arrived in San Francisco late in the spring, and, July 

 4, sailed for the Alaskan fishing-grounds. It has been known that 

 the sea-fisheries of the Pacific coast are very extensive and very rich, 

 but they are practically undeveloped except in the vicinity of San 

 Francisco. The purpose of the commissioner in sending the ' Al- 

 batross ' to the Pacific Ocean was, by a series of careful surveys," 

 to ascertain the locations of the sea-fishing grounds of all kinds, 

 their extent, character, productiveness, their nearness to market, 

 the kinds of bait that might be used, the methods of obtaining it 

 and its abundance, and, in short, to develop the sea-fisheries of the 

 Pacific coast. 



Important banks are distributed along the coasts of Washing- 

 ton Territory and Vancouver's Island, at points easily accessible 

 from the ports in Puget Sound. The fishes upon them are very 

 abundant. They swarm with halibut, and also furnish cod in abun- 

 dance. It was on these grounds that the Gloucester fishing-vessel, 

 ' Mollie Adams,' owned by Capt. Solomon Jacobs, did her success- 

 ful halibut-fishing during the last summer. She kept her halibut 

 fresh, and shipped it in that condition to the New York and Boston 

 markets, where, in no way inferior to that landed at Gloucester, it 

 was sold at eight cents per pound, while the price of Eastern hali- 

 but was twelve cents a pound. 



It must not be inferred from this that Pacific coast halibut can 

 compete successfully in New York and Boston with that caught on 

 the Grand Banks. In the first place, the price at which the East- 

 ern halibut was sold was not the natural one, but had been fixed 

 arbitrarily by a ' trust.' Yet the Pacific coast fishermen have some 

 very important advantages. Three or four trips can be made there 

 to one to the great banks of the Eastern coast. These Pacific coast 

 fisheries are also conveniently near ports of shipment. Then Cap- 

 tain Jacobs secured unusually low rates of freight ; and, even if he 

 had made no money, he would undoubtedly have sent his fresh 

 halibut East in a spirit of bravado, and to show those people who 

 had laughed at him for taking the ' Mollie Adams ' to the Pacific 

 Ocean that he didn't go on so much of a fool's errand, after all. 



The permanent markets for fresh halibut caught on the Pacific 

 coast will be San Francisco, and other cities and towns of Califor- 

 nia that are rapidly growing into importance ; the great mountain 

 cities of Salt Lake City, Denver, etc.; and all the Mississippi valley 

 as far east as Chicago, and extending north and south from Duluth 

 to New Orleans. In all this vast territory the reduced expense of 

 catching halibut will enable the Pacific coast fishermen to compete 

 successfully with those who land their fresh halibut at Gloucester. 



In Alaska the fishing-banks correspond in their extent, charac- 

 ter, kinds, and abundance of fish, with the great offshore fishing- 

 banks of eastern North America. They are inhabited by the same 

 species of cod and halibut that occur on the east coast ; and, 

 although the general positions of these Alaskan banks has been 

 known for some years, they have never been surveyed, and the few 

 fishermen who resort to them find the rich spots by trial, and re- 

 turn to them from time to time. The most important of these 

 banks are situated just off the coast from Unalaska to some dis- 

 tance east of Kadiak Island, — an extent of from six hundred to seven 

 hundred nautical miles : that is to say, that, throughout the region 

 whose boundaries have been given approximately, the fishing-banks 

 are as well defined as those on the Atlantic coast ; but good fishing 

 occurs both to the north and south throughout the Alaskan coast, 

 while on the north the cod-fishery is limited only by ice. 



These banks are a very valuable and important possession. 

 Great quantities of cod are now to be found there, and an industry 

 can be built up that may be made very profitable to the Pacific sea- 

 ports. Of course, the cod caught on these banks will be salted, 

 and the markets for them will be almost unlimited. They will 

 comprise, besides our own country, the western parts of Mexico, 



