DIFFICULTIES IN FISH CULTURE. 367 



is one of the worst obstacles to the success of maintaining the supply. 

 The best directed efforts to keep up the stock are barren of good results 

 because of this destructive practice. Immature fish, even though they 

 have little value as food, are taken and sold in incredible numbers. White- 

 fish small enough to pack fifty in a cigar box have been sold in large quan- 

 tities. Barrels full of striped bass under six inches in length may often be 

 seen in Brooklyn and New York markets in the early spring. Small sturgeon 

 under the legal limit of length are frequently caught in shad drift nets and 

 sold for use in the fresh condition or for smoking. This means an enormous 

 waste of good fish and a total disregard of the future supply. 



vteardt >5 of Fisb Oltarisfs 



It is a very difficult matter to find skilled employees for the hatcheries. 

 In the first place the rate of pay offered by the Federal and State govern- 

 ments is not sufficient to attract the class of men who could render good 

 service. In the second place, there are no schools in which a young man 

 may receive the special training necessary to fit him for fish cultural work. 

 Again, there is such a demand for experts among private establishments 

 and clubs, many of which are able and willing to pay good salaries for 

 satisfactory services that the really useful men are not often seeking employ- 

 ment. Furthermore, the wages of common labor and of ordinary skilled 

 labor so called, are now so attractive that few persons care to enter into 

 governmental fish culture, even with the hope of promotion and a steady 

 income. The State and the Federal service are used by many bright 

 voung men merely as a stepping stone for something better. There are 

 only a few enthusiasts who are thoroughly in love with their profession and 

 are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of doing what they believe they 

 can do best. 



Cannibalism 



Game fish and some other aquatic animals frequently destroy one 



another to such an extent as to seriously diminish the output of a hatchery. 



This is particularly true of the black bass, pike perch and maskalonge. In 



a large pond at Washington, D. C, the United States Fish Commission 



25 



