PLEADINGS. 213 



as the traps proper, and more or less take the place of the traps after 

 the spawning 1 season of scup is over. Through the whole season they 

 are gobbling up what fish may have escaped the traps ; and "all is fish" 

 that comes to these nets; nothing however small escapes from them. 

 The testimony of Mr. Steere proves beyond a doubt the effect of fyke 

 nets upon flat fish and upou others also, and that they are set during 

 the colder months preceding and succeeding winter. 



SEA-BASS AND TAUTOG. 



In May, 1870, I happened to be at Wakefield, South Kingston, and 

 saw several cart-loads of small striped-bass, about 8 inches long, which, 

 I was told, were going to the manure heap. They had been taken near 

 Point Judith in traps ; and with the permission of the committee, I will 

 read some observations made by a gentleman having considerable ac- 

 quaintance with the subject, and as they fully coincide with my own 

 belief, I adopt them as a part of my argument : 



"Dear Sir : The bass taken by the traps (especially at Point Judith) 

 are of a size varying from 6 ounces to 1 pound each. They are taken, 

 when taken at all, in immense numbers. 



"It is a fact, well known among fishermen, that these fish, at this age 

 and size, cannot be taken by hook and line, shore seine, or in any other 

 way than by these wholesale and destructive engines. 



"During the trapping seasons, within six or eight years, immense 

 quantities of these small bass have been sold in South Kingston and 

 vicinity for manure. 



"Were these 'small fry' allowed to grow to a size suitable for market, 

 and until which time they could not be taken by any other method than 

 by traps, &c, these same fish would average from five to twenty times 

 their size when so destroyed. 



"Aside from the destruction of the older bass, when in spawn, by 

 traps, the above wanton waste is well worth consideration. 



u Tautog. — This fish it is not pretended is a wanderer. As soon as 

 they commence to move in spring they skirt the coast, following the 

 rocky shores and bottom. 



"Every fisherman knows the above to be a fact, and that in May they 

 are caught along the shore rocks, and off shore, on the sunken ledges, 

 in any quantity. 



"The effect of trapping is to ' gobble up' almost the entire l spring run' 

 of this fish. 



"It cannot be (I believe is not) denied that our Rhode Island waters, 

 where they were formerly so abundant, are depleted of tautog ; while we 

 have only to go from five to fifteen or twenty miles west of Point Judith 

 to find these fish in their season as abundant as ever. 



"I account for this upon this theory that the tautog, during winter, 

 becomes dormant or torpid. • 



"All fishermen of experience agree, that late in fall a membrane forms 

 and covers the vent, and that after the closing of the vent they will not 

 bite at bait even the most tempting ; that in their torpid state they are, of 

 course, helpless, and by instinct seek safety for themselves in still water ; 

 that the major part at least 'winter' in the bays, salt ponds, coves, 

 creeks, and estuaries, connecting with the open sea. 



"I believe that the numerous bays and harbors in Long Island Sound 

 and our own bay are natural winter-quarters of these fish. 



"In proof of this, tautog were always caught in spring several days 

 earlier at Pomham Bocks than at the mouth of the bay or at Point Ju- 



