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(1) An unobstructed and uncontaniinated passageway from 

 salt water to the spawning grounds. 



(2) Artificial restocking of depleted streams, and the creation 

 of new fisheries in favorable localities. 



(3) Adequate and efiicient methods of regulating the fishery. 



Necessarily these steps will require time for completion, par- 

 ticularly in the enactment of careful legislation, and will demand 

 the co-operation of all persons interested in the welfare of the 

 fisheries. By this report the Division of Fisheries and Game 

 has fulfilled its duty by showing the immediate need, and 

 pointing out the way of reform. It has already helped, and 

 will go still farther in assisting the towns to remove obstruc- 

 tions to the passage of fish in streams, and in restocking the 

 spawning grounds. But the regulation of the fishery must 

 come through the General Court and through the action of the 

 individual towns in the form of efficient legislation. Without 

 co-operation upon the part of the coastal communities all cul- 

 tural efforts for its restoration are useless. To this end the 

 shore towns should be thoroughly aroused to a sense of their 

 responsibility for the protection of the alewife. 



The first step in the reconstruction of the alewife fishery is 

 the removal of existing obstructions, to make a clear passage- 

 way for alewives. The removal of obstructing material offers 

 little difficulty beyond ordinary care on the part of the persons 

 in charge of the fishery in keeping the stream clear. Two con- 

 ditions present difficult problems: (1) impassable dams, and 

 (2) pollution. The first and more important has been met by 

 installing workable fish ways; the latter is still under considera- 

 tion. 



Fish WAYS. 



The fishway problem has been and always will be a difficult 

 one tp solve satisfactorily. So far a perfect fishway for ale- 

 wives and shad has never been made, although all manner of 

 designs are on the market. The reason why any single type is 

 not uniformly successful is that in each case it must be adapted 

 to the locality where installed, since different situations demand 

 different kinds of fish ways to meet their requirements. 



Requirements. — The requirements for a successful fishway 

 are: (1) easy and rapid passage for a species of fish, with uni- 



