9 



need to look very far into the fiitiii-e to foresee a time when 

 every food producing supply will be drawn upon to its full(3st 

 extent. 



No one can deny that a large amount of unlawful fishing is 

 still being carried on, but we liold that the enforcement of the 

 law can not become general until the people are educated up to 

 the necessity of such enforcement. The agitation of this matter 

 for the past few seasons has brought prominently- to notice 

 a great deal that has been heretofore accepted by the citizens 

 of localities where it has existed, as a matter of course. It will 

 require hard and judicious work to bring about the reform and 

 give the full advantage of protection to fish, -and in the w^ork 

 enough of local interest will have to be brought into play to 

 make detection and conviction possible. Enough of favorable 

 results have already been obtained, where the work has been 

 pushed, to make it popular, but still, in a, great many locali- 

 ties, an^- interference with the fishermen is regarded as an inter- 

 ference with vested rights, not only by the fishermen themselves 

 but by their neighbors. 



FISH WARDENS. 



Our list of wardens now number- 54, and is comprised, as a 

 rule, of a good lot of officers. When the fact is taken into 

 considei'ation that they serve without compensation, except in 

 cases where their fees can be obtained from fines, or from the 

 meager fund the Commission has at its disposal for paying ex- 

 penses not covered by fees, we think that a good showing has 

 been made. A number of the wardens have given a great deal 

 of time to the work, and have been very successful in obtain- 

 ing great results. It would have been impossible for the Com- 

 missioners to have covered more than a small amount of the 

 territory under our jurisdiction, but for the efficient aid of 

 these men. 



It is true that in a number of instances the wardens have 

 failed to do their duty, but we can not expect men to take the 

 risks incidental to the rigorous prosecution of violations of the 

 law, except it be for sufficient compensation, or, as has been the 

 case in some instances, a love for the work and great interest 

 in local protection of fish. 



The wardens should be paid at least for the time occupied in 

 the work. If the State was districted, and three or four good 

 men selected, sufficiently compensated so that their entire time 

 could be given to the work, moving under the direction of the 

 Board, in our opinion the results obtained would be far more 

 satisfactory than by the present method. As it is now, many 

 of these inen can not do the work if they would, as time is re- 

 quired, money must be expended, considerable bodily risk taken, 

 and as is frequently the case, annoying and expensive suits 

 growing out of prosecutions, must be defended. We give here- 

 with a list of wardens, with their address, also their reports. 



