11 



INTRODUCTION OF SMELT. 



Your Couimissiouers have liacl under consideration the advisability 

 of the introduclion of the Anadroinous Smelt into our rivers and 

 lakes. This lish will make a valuable addition to the fish supply. 

 As a table fish tliey are unexcelled, and are superior to any for pro- 

 ducing food for the carnivorous fishes. The commissioners of New- 

 Jersey say, in their late report: 



"Some years 'ago several successful attempts were made at land- 

 locking the Anadromous Smelt, and the result showed that while 

 transplanting the fish into fresh water did not deteriorate them in the 

 least for the table, they materially increas^'d in size.'* 



We can, no doubt, obtain needed supply for introduction by an 

 exchange with the New Jersey commission for some of our native 

 fishes. 



The commercial value of this fish is large and the consumption 

 general, Chicago markets, during the proper season, distributing 

 large quantities. As a production of food for other fishes^ the same 

 authority says: 



'•The capacity of water to produce fish being graduated by the 

 quantity of the food found by the fish, your commission in IS97 

 turned its attention to the supplying of streams and ponds with bait 

 fish. In the water of the State of Maine there are two kinds of land- 

 locked smelts, the large and the small. The large fish attain a 

 growth of from five to six inches, the small fish of from three to four 

 inches. Experience has shown that these fish are admirably adapted 

 for food for other fish, and in Maine it has been a rule of some years' 

 standing that no jDoud or stream will be stocked until there is a 

 plentiful supply of smelts for the other fish to feed on." 



This argument would hold good in our own land-locked waters. 

 Plenty of vegetation and food should be introduced into ponds before 

 carnivorous fish are planted. 



^£J^ ^FISH LAWS. 



At the last session of the General Assembly (40th) all of the laws 

 pertaining to fish and fishways were revised, and amendments made 

 that have enabled the commissioners to bring about a better enforce- 

 ment of them. 



A limit of size of fish lawful to sell or offer for sale was incorpor- 

 ated, and has been the means of protecting, to a greater extent than 

 before, the small fish. Heretofore, if a fisherman could, by use of a 

 small mesh seine or net, take small fish and take them to market 

 without being taken in the act, he escaped unpunished. After the 

 enactment of the present law the commissioners undertook to stop 

 their sale in the hands of dealers, warning them always for first 

 offense, and if fish were found in their possession a second time, 

 prosecution followed. It has resulted in most of the dealers refusing 

 to receive or handle any except such fish as meet the requirement of 

 the law. 



