234 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



the deer did not die in any such large numbers as was represented, and the 

 mortality was only what might be naturally expected where the deer had 

 become so plentiful, and had congregated in such large yards that they were 

 pressed for food when the snow became too deep to break outside of the 

 yards. When spring opened, the deer were seen in large numbers in their 

 accustomed places, and thus far this fall there is every indication that 

 they are plenty, and in many localities more numerous than in past years. 

 However, while the deer in the Adirondacks are holding their own better 

 than might naturally be expected, there seems to be a growing need for 

 setting aside tracts of land as game refuges, especially as very many 

 swamps and evergreen timbered sections are being almost denuded by 

 lumbermen, which leaves the deer without cover or protection. It might 

 be well, while purchasing land, to have this matter in mind as well as the 

 purchasing of land to protect watersheds. 



Commercial Fisheries 



My attention has frequently been called, when issuing licenses to the 

 net fishermen, to the serious falling off which has steadily continued in their 

 business, and especially in the Hudson river fisheries. The season of 1904 

 was, as a rule, a poor one for the commercial fisherman, and these complaints 

 continued, although the value of the receipts from the catch in Lake Erie 

 and Lake Ontario showed a considerable gain. The figures in the tables 

 representing the returns from these lakes are well worth studying by any- 

 one interested in our commercial fisheries. 



Attention was particularly drawn during the past season to the com- 

 plaints of the Hudson river fishermen, whose business continued to show a 

 marked decline. The returns for the season, when compared with those of 

 1.903, showed a loss of fully 50 per cent, and a comparison of the number of 

 nets used indicates that many fishermen did not continue their business. 

 As will be seen by the statistical tables, the herring fishery fell off nearly 

 50 per cent as compared with the previous season, while the important shad 

 fishery was nearly two-thirds less. There was also a marked loss in the 

 sturgeon fishery which was once a highly important and lucrative business. 



If the decrease of shad in the Hudson river is due to the water being 



