FISHES 149 



all at one time, in order that its rivals may secure as few as 

 possible. . . . Not only are salmon taken by the steamer 

 load, but in addition millions of other food fish are captured, 

 killed, and thrown away. At times, also, it happens that far 

 greater numbers of salmon are caught than can be used be- 

 fore they spoil. ... In many of the small Alaskan streams 

 the canning companies built dams or barricades to prevent 

 the fish from ascending to their spawning beds, and to catch 

 all of them. In some of the small lakes, the fishermen actu- 

 ally haul their seines on the spawning grounds. 



" The laws passed by Congress to prevent the destruction 

 of the Alaskan salmon fisheries are ' ineffective, and there is 

 scarcely a pretense of enforcing them.' To-day the question 

 is — will lawless Americans completely destroy an industry 

 which if properly regulated, will yield annually $13,000,000 

 of good food? Will the salmon millions of the Pacific share 

 the fate of the buffalo millions of the Great Plains? At 

 present it seems absolutely certain to come to pass. . . . The 

 time for strong, effective, and far-reaching action for the 

 protection of that most valuable source of cheap food for 

 the millions is now ! " ^ 



Many of the states have passed laws for the protection and 

 conservation of game fishes such as trout and bass. The 

 sportsmen have seen to this; and while it is desirable that 

 these forms of wild life should be preserved and their number 

 increased in all our waters, it is of much greater importance 

 that the fishes which supply food for the millions should not 

 be left to the mercy of such utterly selfish men as those 

 responsible for the rapid depletion of the Atlantic salmon and 

 the rapid decrease of the Pacific salmon. 



It is necessary not only that the number of all fish desirable 

 for food should be increased by means of artificial propaga- 

 1 Hornaday's "The American Natural History." 



