FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 255 



noted at a distance of a hundred yards or more, is, in the experience of the present 

 writer, a most useful sign that the fish are actually spawning. At this time, perhaps, 

 the greatest difficulty will be experienced in approaching the fish closely enough to 

 capture one or more of them. A slight movement is sometimes enough to give the 

 alarm. And a further difficulty in capturing them at this time is the muddiness of the 

 water, caused by the energetic movements of spawning. In some localities, no doubt, 

 nests are more easily found than in others, but in a general way the writer believes 

 that there are few fishes in our fresh-water lakes whose eggs and young can be secured 

 with less difficulty than those of the dogfish. Should the novice in collecting fail to 

 find at once one of their nests, the rush and splash of the escaping guardian fish will 

 often give a sufficiently obvious hint as to the location of a nest. I may note, further- 

 more, that the dogfish does not prove itself skillful in throwing a human enemy off 

 the scent ; one rarely finds that a fish will move away quietly from the nest and then 

 make a noisy escape in order to divert the collector. The fish, on the other hand, is 

 far more likely to remain on the nest till the boat is actually upon it, when with a 

 sudden plunge it reveals the exact position of the nest. So fearlessly does it stand 

 its ground that in several cases noted by the writer, the fish was not discovered until 

 the stern of the boat had passed over it. There may indeed be cases where, although 

 almost touched by the bottom of the boat, the fish has been actually overlooked ; but 

 as the writer has noted, the shape of the nest is so often shown at the surface of the 

 water, that one can frequently detect it before any sign of the fish is visible. 



Furthermore, the habit of the dogfish in accompanying its young for a number of 

 weeks after hatching gives the fish culturist another valuable hint. With little 

 difficulty many schools of young dogfish can be found and destroyed. The very fact 

 that the young when alarmed draw together into a more and more compact mass puts 

 them readily into the hands of the collector — although on the other hand, this habit 

 has doubtless proved of great value as a means of preserving them from rapacious 

 fishes; for should the young scatter at the first alarm, they could obviously be less 

 perfectly protected by the parent fish. 



In conclusion, accordingly, I think it is fair to assume that whenever it becomes 

 necessary, dogfish can be readily destroyed. The fish themselves can be speared 

 when they appear at the season of spawning; their nests can be found and destroyed; 

 and young fish can later be taken, and in large numbers, when in company with the 

 male fish. I am led to believe that a single collector, operating in a lake several miles 

 in length, could in one season reduce the supply of dogfish in a very effective way. 



