Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 49 



designed for the escape of the offender than for the benefit of the pros- 

 ■ecutor. 



To remedy this anomalous state of affairs the Commissioners of 

 Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware held several meetings in Phil- 

 adelphia and formulated a code of laws that would be uniform for the 

 entire river. At a conference with the New York commission, a similar 

 bill was submitted and endorsed by them. All these inter-state bills were 

 subsequently passed by the legislatures of the respective states and 

 another big point was gained in the work of the restoration of the fish- 

 eries. 



The design of these bills were principally to define a close season 

 throughout the river for shad; to designate a close season for sturgeon 

 before unprotected below Trenton Falls ; to guard for a limited time, 

 new species of food fish introduced into the Upper Delaware, and to 

 protect the shad spawning ground of the river above tide- water. 



There remained now nothing to prevent the river from being once 

 more prolific from one end to the other but a fishway in the Lacka- 

 waxon dam, and restocking with artificially hatched fry. The first was 

 accomplished in 1890 and the other was begun at Gloucester b3' the 

 United States Fish Commission in 1887, who sent the steamer "Fish 

 Hawk " there for that purpose at the solicitation of the Pennsylvania 

 Fish Commission. In that year 35,000,000 shad fry were hatched and 

 deposited in the Delaware, afld its tributaries. 



At the same time a similarly large amount of fry was planted in the 

 waters of the Susquehanna hatched at the station at Havre de Grace. 



While the Pennsylvania commission was busily engaged in clearing 

 the Delaware of traps, baskets and other illegal devices, and striving 

 for uniform laws between the states bordering on the Delaware, they yet 

 found time to construct six additional fishways of the Eogers' pattern 

 in the Columbia dam, to open the Juniata so that shad could ascend its 

 waters, and perform other creditable work, the details of which will be 

 developed later in this work. 



In 1889 the fish commission of the state induced a resident of Glouces- 

 ter, New Jersey, to set apart a piece of ground on the river side and 

 build thereon a structure for a shad hatchery. This was done, and on 

 the request of the commission the United States commission began 

 operations there with Mr. John Gay in charge. Under his skilful man- 

 agement many million shad eggs were hatched and deposited by the 

 Pennsylvania commission in the headwaters of the Delaware. For rea- 

 sons, however, not given this hatchway was abandoned by the govern- 

 ment commission after the second year. The success of the work was 

 nevertheless so great that the Pennsylvania commissioners determined 

 to establish a hatchery of their own, and one is to be fitted up for opera- 

 tion next year. 



The work of restoration in the Delaware was almost marvellous in its 

 4 



