REGULATION OF THE SEA-FISHERIES BY LAW. * 77 



We are told that, sixty years ago, the above complaint was chronic 

 among fishermen, but not of so virulent a type as at the present 

 day, as there were then no trappers to charge with being the cause; 

 but now there is a competition with them in the waters and markets, 

 where those who will not use improved methods are outdone. 



Yet we believe that, where the fisherman really applies himself to his 

 business, he does as well as at any former time, though we would by 

 no means convey the impression that hook and line ever was or ever 

 will be a profitable way to catch fish. 



WHY LESS ARE CAUGHT IN SOME LOCALITIES. 



1. Because they are made wild by steamboats, vessels, and an infinite 

 number of small craft, and by being fished for by everybody, and in 

 every way. 



2. The fish whose numbers have most diminished in those localities 

 are of the less belligerent kind, while their enemies among fish have 

 increased and driven from their favorite grounds. 



3. The failure, or partial failure, of crops of sea-vegetation and small 

 animal life that, according to natural laws, will vary from one year to 

 another, and the great amount of filth that must accumulate on some 

 at least of the feeding and spawning-grounds, may cause a' permanent 

 failure in such localities. 



4. The impurity of the water that so affects the oj^ster as to destroy 

 its value for food, as in Taunton River and at other points. 



5. The destruction of muscles by the occasional storms that drive the 

 shells up on our shores in windrows two or three feet thick. 



OTHER CAUSES OF DIMINUTION. 



1. Their destruction at sea from natural enemies there. 



2. Convulsions of nature. 



3. Distempers. 



4. Being chilled by the excessive cold of some of our winters, as in 

 1856-'57, when tautog were driven ashore in large quantities. 



5. The enormous destruction of the spawn and young by natural ene- 

 mies, that may increase or diminish unobserved and unknown. These 

 enemies may be of their own kind when food is scarce. 



From all these causes, may we not find the answer to the question, 

 " What has become of our food-fishes ?" 



It may be objected that most of these causes are natural ones, that 

 may have operated at other times as well as at present. We answer, 

 they have so operated ; and perhaps the fluctuations of fish were more 

 remarkable for the half century previous than for the one just passed, 

 and to what, we ask, can it be attributed ? Certainly not to fishing. 



WHAT FISH HAVE DIMINISHED, WHAT INCREASED, AND WHAT NEITHER 



WITHIN FIFTY YEARS. 



We have stated .that there was an apparent, when there was not a 

 real or general diminution. We believe this to be true of bass, and also 

 of tautog. While the indications are that scup have really diminished, 

 the bull's-eye have entirely disappeared. 



The horse-mackerel, squeteague, butter-fish, and Spanish-mackerel 

 have increased very much, and are fish that were scarcely caught atone 

 time, but are now numerous, in spite of the means used to catch them. 



