196 



Bird- Lore 



consist almost entirely of menhaden and 

 other small, bony fish that they catch far 

 out in the ocean. 



"The Pelican is a harmless, very inter- 

 esting and companionable old fellow, a 

 very great attraction to the many thou- 

 sands of persons that annually visit both 

 coasts of Flo ida, and its extermination 

 would not in my opinion better the fishing 

 conditions in Florida. 



"Referring again to the fishermen, I 

 may mention that although more fish 

 have been killed by the cold water this 

 winter than ever known before, fishermen 

 are making unusually large catches on the 

 East Coast, and I have heard no complaints 

 against the Pelican from this quarter." 

 (Signed) B. J. Pacetti, 

 Inspector of Federal Bird Reservations. 



"I am sorry to hear that this question 

 has been brought up again about the 

 Pelicans destroying food-fish. I am not 

 very familiar with conditions on the Gulf 

 Coast, but I know it is not the case here. 

 Answering these questions in order — 



"i. The Pelicans here feed almost 

 entirely on menhaden which are not a 

 food-fish. 



"2. The birds have been known to 

 take a few fish out of set nets sometimes, 

 if left too late in the morning. This is 

 the only interference they have been 

 guilty of, and this has never been serious. 



"3. As to their not being useful as 

 scavengers, one has only to pay a visit 

 to the fishhouses during a good run of fish, 

 and they will see the birds gathering in all 

 the foul fish thrown overboard, which 

 would otherwise float ashore, create a 

 nuisance, and be a menace to health. 

 Regarding the reduced catches of fish, 

 this is caused mainly by the fisherman's 

 own greediness. There has been no law 

 framed yet that the fishermen have not 

 broken. The chief trouble is that the size 

 of mesh in nets has been steadily reduced 

 until now they are catching fish unfit for 

 market, and unless something is done soon, 

 the fishing business will be a thing of the 

 past, especially if the new ruling of the 

 food control is adopted to take off all 

 restrictions for the period of the war. 



"There is more damage done to fish 

 by one small school of porpoises than all 

 our birds, and yet they are not condemned, 

 and if we destroy the Pelicans, the other 

 water-birds would also have to go, as 

 most of them eat fish. When I first came 

 to this country, in 1881, these waters were 

 teeming with fish of all kinds — evidently 

 the birds had not reduced them any at 

 that time — but after netting started it was 

 soon possible to see a difference. 



"At present, fishing is getting to be so 



poor in these waters that many of the 

 fishermen are leaving for other points. 



"In view of the foregoing I cannot see 

 a good reason for condemning these birds 

 at present. The fishermen are catching out 

 the fish, and if we destroy the birds it 

 will be a bare country indeed. There are 

 so many people that find pleasure in see- 

 ing them. They would miss the bird-life 

 very much indeed. 



"Several years ago I sent the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture a supply of fish 

 gathered at the Island, and it will be on 

 record as to what kinds are mostly used 

 here to feed young. At that time we found 

 they used mostly menhaden, a few thread 

 herring, butterfish, porgies, and other 

 sea-fish; there were very few river-fish, 

 such as mullet, sea-trout, whiting, or 

 others. 



"I enclose clipping that bears on this 

 question. It will be seen from this that 

 the restrictions were the cause of the 

 reduced catches, as the Pelicans do not go 

 that far, and the birds were never known 

 to catch the kinds mentioned here. 



"If the Food Administration will in- 

 vestigate this, I can show them the reason 

 for the reduced catches. I can show them 

 sea-trout brought in (caught in seines), 

 6 inches long, which, if allowed to grow 

 would be 24 inches in two years, and 

 weigh fifteen pounds. Is it any wonder 

 that the fish are giving out? We have good 

 laws to protect the fish, but the large 

 dealers always manage to break them." 

 (Signed) P. Kroegel, Warden, 

 Pelican Island Bird Reservation, Fla. 



"In reply to your communication T 

 would state that from my close observa 

 tion of the Pelican and his habits, I cannot 

 understand how one could say that he 

 destroys millions of pounds of food-fish. 

 I find that he lives chiefly on small mullets 

 and sardines, which are not classified as 

 food-fish in this section. How the birds 

 could interfere materially with the fisher- 

 men is not within my power to say, since 

 I know of no way that they could. The 

 number of Pelicans in this section today 

 is 50 per cent less than three years ago. 



"What really is destroying the food- 

 fish and shrimp today, more than any 

 other known enemy, is the shrimp-seines, 

 that in their search for shrimp catch 

 millions of small fish which are left to 

 die upon the shores. This is one of the 

 greatest enemies that we hav^e today. In 

 the operation of the seines, millions of 

 fish are caught in the meshes, and while 

 hauling them for hundreds of yards through 

 the water, they become entangled in the 

 seine-meshes and are frequently dead, 

 even before the haul is complete. It will 



