9 



number of instances, the men who c^o the actual work of drawing 

 the same are simply employed by the day for the work, and, if 

 arrested in the act, may or may not be indemuiBed by their em- 

 ployer. It is frequently the case that those who can least afford 

 to pay a tiue are caught, while those who profit by the work of 

 illegal fishing escape. 



A provision of the law which would give to a court or any 

 proper official the authority to destroy such property as may be^ 

 found in use or liable to be used unlawfully, would greatly sim- 

 plify our work. 



A number of the fishermen of tlie State have signified their • 

 willingness to assist in securing the passage of an amendment to- 

 our present laws which shall prohibit the use of the seine at all. 

 Iowa has such a law and its workings, so far, have been greatly 

 beneficial to the waters of the state. The use of the seine has 

 done, and will do much toward the ultimate depletion of fish in 

 our principal bodies of water, and should not be permitted at any 

 season of the year. This would meet the approval of all fisher- 

 men except the owners of large rigs, whom we can never punish 

 as individuals under our present la:ws. 



TAKING FISH FROM OVERFLOWS. 



We will give a brief description of the methods used in taking 

 the fish from overflows for the purpose of rescue and distribution, 

 in order that our work may be properly understood. Nearly all the 

 flat ponds along the Illinois river, which become filled with fish dur- 

 ing the high water, or overflow of the river, are left full of fish 

 when the water recedes. 'These ponds dry up and the fish die if 

 left there during the summer. It is from such places that we get 

 our supply. Our mode of work is, briefly, as follows: We first 

 clean the pond of moss and obstructions, by means of a heavily 

 leaded sea-line, drawn over the bottom of the pond, catching the 

 moss and rubbish and dragging it to the shore. The seine, which 

 is of small mesh, could not be used without cleaning the pond in 

 this way. After the pond is so cleaned, the seine, which has pre- 

 viously been "laid in" evenly and regularly into the stern of a 

 flat bottomed boat, so that it will "lay out" without tangling, is 

 fastened to the shore by one of its brails; it is then allowed to go 

 into the water for its whole length in a semi-circle. A long line 

 is fasted to the outer brail, and it is drawn to the shore, describ- 

 ing, as large an arc of a circle as possible. When the outer brail 

 has reached the shore, the lead or bottom line and the top or 

 cork line are gradually pulled in, working towards the starting 

 point. When about one-half of the distance has been accom- 

 plished the other end of the seine is taken up and treated in the 

 same way. The seine being eight feet deep, and the water ordi- 

 narily very shallow, quite a bag is thus formed. When the seine 

 has been brought near enough to the shore so that a section of it 

 can be handled by the men, the fish are worked into a pocket, as 

 it were, and carried out into deeper water, where, by a vibratory 



