l68 ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



usual number. It would seem as if, year after year, the run of fish was 

 retarded by an invisible line which annually stretched further and further 

 down the river, and beyond which the fish would not pass. Formerlv, shad 

 were caught up to the Troy dam. Then the fish were sold for a very small 

 price in the streets of Troy and Albany. Later they bacame scarcer and 

 scarcer until, at present, the fish do not seem to run very much above 

 Hudson. There has been no lack of stocking this water both by the State 

 Commission and by the United States Commission, but the results have 

 failed to meet the anticipations of fish culturists. It is a notable fact, in 

 this connection, that during recent years the Hudson River has become 

 little more than an open sewer, and each year finds the conditions in this 

 respect worse than the year before. It is the judgment of those who have 

 considered this matter seriously that the fish will not run up beyond a 

 certain limit of contamination in the water. Several years ago the fishermen 

 themselves figured out the situation and reported it to the Commission. 

 Very recently the author of a book devoted entirley to the Hudson River 

 says with reference to this body of water " There can be little doubt that 

 fish are poisoned by the fouling of the elements in which they live," and 

 another writer says " Everywhere, the country over, streams once yielding 

 a bounteous supply of fish have long since been utterly and permanently 

 ruined by having been converted into sewers for refuse which destroys all 

 life." 



I have given particular attention to this problem because of the import- 

 ance of the shad as a food fish, and when my attention was directed to the 

 reports of the Connecticut Commission by our secretary, I instructed him 

 to examine into the conditions prevailing in the Connecticut River, and 

 the methods adopted by the Connecticut Commission to meet the situation. 

 His report advises me that their shad fisheries gradually failed year after 

 year until, in 1892, they amounted practically to nothing. The outcry of 

 the fishermen was such that the Commission of that State made a careful 

 study of the situation and determined that the pollution of the water was 

 such that the eggs deposited naturally were smothered, and the fry which 

 did hatch were unable to withstand the condition of the water. After 

 considerable experiment the Connecticut Commission decided to try to 



