Fish Culture in Inland Waters 327 



propagated some of them and planted them in interior waters, they 

 have usually been subject to the law restricting the method of 

 capture to ordinary anghng methods. The question concerning 

 these fish came up during the late war. 



The Seventh Annual Report of the Conservation Commission, 

 State of New York, for 1917 (pp. 45-47), says: "A careful study 

 of the work that has been done during many years in the stock- 

 ing of many lakes with whitefish leads to the conclusion that the 

 policy of the State with regard to this fish has never been thoroughly 

 worked out. While the whitefish is not to be classed for a moment 

 with a number of other species as regards destructiveness to spawn 

 of other fishes, it nevertheless is a fact that the whitefish does eat 

 spawn and young fry in lakes inhabited by trout. Moreover an 

 examination of a number of whitefish stomachs indicates that in 

 some of these lakes the principal food of the whitefish is the same 

 as that of the trout existing under similar conditions. Thus it is a 

 competitor of the trout and in trout lakes that have been intensively 

 stocked with whitefish the latter is unquestionably being fostered to 

 the detriment of the trout. In such lakes, however, most of which 

 are in the Adirondacks, there is a more serious argument against 

 practices heretofore in force. Though the State has for years been 

 stocking these lakes with whitefish, it is nevertheless contrary to 

 law to take them, other than in the Great Lakes, except by angling. 

 In a limited number of the Adirondack lakes whitefish are caught 

 by angling, but in many others they are not taken by angling at all, 

 and thus for all practical purposes are given protection throughout 

 the year. 



" It is important that the entire policy with regard to whitefish 

 be revised and that the taking of these fish commercially be per- 

 mitted in some of the lakes where they are abundant, thus making 

 it possible for the public to obtain some benefit for the expenditures 

 which have been made in stocking these waters. In other lakes, 

 where it is not advisable to permit commercial fisheries operations, 

 it would seem that the whitefish should be able to maintain them- 

 selves by natural reproduction in sufficient numbers to compensate 

 for all that may be removed by angling alone, and that annual 

 stocking hereafter is unnecessary in those waters. In other words, 

 the Commission believes that the whitefish product of the hatcheries 

 should be planted almost exclusively in waters which are fished 

 commercially. Plans to this end are being developed. 



" The Adirondack frostfish is one of the minor whitefishes which 

 is abundant in some of the Adirondack lakes. It has been propagated 

 by the State for years. It is not taken by angling, however, and 

 it is unlawful to fish for it by any other method. It therefore seems 

 futile to continue the propagation of this species unless some means 

 are found whereby they may be caught and utilized as food fish. 

 The tullibee, another species of whitefish, has been extensively 

 propagated at Constantia and yet the public has derived no benefit 

 from the expense thus incurred. For this reason the work was 

 discontinued during the last spawning season. Attempts are being 



