Trout Breeding: 37 



and April ; I can then sell all I can raise, but later in the 

 season people have gone out of town for the sum- 

 mer." 



Hon. Herschel Whitaker, of the Michigan Fish Com- 

 mission, voiced the sentiment of those present when he 

 said : "A close season for fish is for their protection 

 during the period of reproduction, and that is the only 

 interpretation to be given to it. It may work hardship 

 for those engaged in raising and selling fish, if the law 

 precludes them from following their occupation. It is 

 to the interest of the whole people that the close season 

 should be established for the protection of fish during 

 the season of reproduction, and the interest of the indi- 

 vidual should be subservient to the larger interest." 



I agree with Mr. Whitaker. I am a fishculturist by 

 profession and an angler from choice. The opening of 

 our markets to pond-bred trout would open the gates to 

 all the poachers of trout streams in the country, and it 

 would be impossible to keep their illegal catch from the 

 markets. The raising of chickens and turkeys is not a 

 parallel case, for they do not exist in a wild state in the 

 East. 



I have listened to these arguments year after year, 

 but have taken little part in them. Here are my heretical 

 views : The brook trout ranks as a first-class table fish 

 in cities removed from the salt water. In New York, 

 Eoston and other seaboard cities it has a sentimental 

 value and sells for 30 cents to $1 per pound. The sale is 

 mainly to city anglers who fish for the trout at the 

 opening season, if they can get away, and who buy 

 the fish to revive old camp memories more than 

 anything else. They have them cooked at the club or 

 take them home and try to make their wives enthuse 

 over them, just as I buy venison chops every year and 



