62 Conservation Department 



Law enforcement : After the laws have been wisely formed they 

 should be strictly enforced with absolute impartiality. It is un- 

 fortunate that the hunting' season in the State comes at just the 

 season when the trout beds should be guarded, when the protectors 

 are mostly in the deer or pheasant country. The spawning beds 

 of trout must be protected or our supply of the finest fish in the 

 lakes will continue to decline. More protectors are needed, at least 

 during' the spawning season of lake trout. 



Fishways: These should be properly constructed and main- 

 tained in many streams where they do not now exist. The one at 

 Mud Lock near the foot of Cayuga lake will serve as an example. 

 If this were an efficient passageway there can be no question that 

 fishing near the foot of Cayuga lake would be considerably im- 

 proved, although conditions could never be what they were before 

 the marshes were drained by the Barge canal. 



Another example, of many, might be the lower falls in Taughan- 

 nock glen. A fishway at the lower falls might turn this creek into 

 a fine stream for the spawning of rainbow trout, suckers and many 

 species of minnows which furnish food for the game fishes of the 

 vicinity. 



Tributary streams: They should not only be provided when pos- 

 sible with fishways, but pollution of the streams at all seasons of 

 the year should be prevented. The Keuka outlet is one example 

 which I might cite. Although there was no serious pollution in this 

 stream during the period of our survey, the paper mills were 

 operating early in the season during the time when rainbow trout 

 were spawning 1 and although several rainbows were captured in 

 this stream at the beginning of the season, indicating that they 

 were ascending to the spawning beds, no young rainbows could be 

 taken by repeated efforts. Evidently the poison from the mills 

 above had destroyed the eggs or fry. 



Elimination of the lamprey* This parasite is responsible for 

 the death of many trout, especially the smaller trout which pre- 

 sumably do not recover from its attacks as most of the larger 

 ones do. 



The burbot : In Canandaigua lake this fish is a serious menace to 

 better food-fish like the trout and whitefish, and any means which 

 would reduce its numbers without serious damage to other fish 

 should be encouraged. It is a member of the codfish family and 

 furnishes a fairly good picketed or salted product and the fresh fish 

 is by no means bad for the table when properly prepared. The 

 spawning grounds of this fish should be located, if possible, and 

 their numbers reduced by taking them during the spawning season 

 and fishing for them through the ice in winter. Set lines 

 throughout the year should be encouraged as far as possible. Al- 

 though it could be caught readily with lines baited with alewives 

 or minnows we would not recommend this bait because it would 



See page 158 for full discussion by Prof. S. H. Gage. 



