peesident's address. 307 



seals, porpoises, &c., in certain Continental fisheries; (6) the 

 establishment of hatcheries on the coast for sea fish and edible 

 shell-fish. 



Hatcheries already exist in the United States, Canada, "New- 

 foundland, Norway, and Scotland, and it is proposed to establish 

 them in Belgium and France. In Newfoundland last season 

 551,469,000 young lobsters and 36,650,000 young cod were 

 hatched and planted on the fishing grounds; this season (1892) 

 207,000,000 young cod were hatched in Norway and planted in 

 the inshore waters. Dr. Fulton has kindly supplied me with 

 the following statistics as regards the hatcheries of Canada and 

 the United States : — 



^^ Fish Hatching in Canada. — Since 1874, when first begun, 

 911,771,000 fry — salmon, trout of various kinds — " whitefish" 

 (^Coregonus), pickerel, &c., have been hatched and planted. Last 

 year (1891) the numbers were over 115,770,000 at the fourteen 

 hatcheries supported by the Government, which spends annually 

 about 40,000 dollars on fish-breeding. 



United States. — Besides the Central Fish Commission, most 

 of the States have hatcheries. The Fish Commission has thir- 

 teen. In 1888 (the last year for which figures are published) 

 238,986,000 fry and ova were distributed by the Fish Commis- 

 sion. In 1890 the State hatcheries of the State of New York 

 hatchednearly40,000,000,— probably in U.S. nearly 500,000,000 

 annually. The money grant is very large, but I have not been 

 able to ascertain it. 



Shad-hatching is prosecuted on a very large scale, 153,890,000 

 in 1888, and very successful results claimed. The Atlantic Shad 

 Fisheries had sunk to a low point. In 1880 the catch was 

 4,149,968, and each year it has increased; in 1888 the catch, 

 being 7,660,474, — 85 per cent, greater than in 1880, the money 

 value of the increase being $704,101." — U.S. Fish Commission 

 Report for 1887, published 1891. 



It is evident, then, that artificial fish-hatching is obtaining a 

 fair trial across the Atlantic, and we may hope that its further 

 development in Europe is only a question of time, for it seems 

 certain that the present demand for fish must put too great a 



