to inflict dsmagG of economic importance v;hen protective moasurcs arc not taken 

 around fish hatcheries aAd-ojCc'asl'Gnally' 'in-'" newly stocked waters, a careful 

 study reveals that under natural conditions such damage is usually slight and 

 inmost instances is more than offset by. the birds cbnsuming large numbers of 

 spawn-eaters and predators of valuable fishes, • .■ 



Causes of Fish Depletion 



In m-st instances- abundance and accessibility are the primary factors 

 determ.ining the type of fishes taken by birds. The more sluggish surface- 

 feeding or shallcv7-vjater species not utilized as food by man, as menhaden, 

 gizzard shad^ killifishes, minnovjs, and suckers, greatly outnumber the valu- 

 able species and are more easily captured.; in consequence they usually com- 

 pose the bulk of the fish diet of fish-eating birds. 



At one of the national conventions of the Jzaal-c Walton League of America 

 ex-President Hoover, an enthusiastic fisherman, laid the responsibility for the 

 relative scarcity of certain food and sport fishes x^'here it belongs ivhen he 

 stated: ..... 



■ "The "history of our food fisheries over the last fifty years is a 

 melancholy 'book that -..^ould have tal^en sr.me of the calm and optimism out of 

 Izaak iTaltdn* ' At' one time our litteral vaters teemed v;ith huge- runs of salmon, 

 shad, and sturgeon.' But they vJere easy of ca ture because they come right up 

 to the fisherman's hands once a year en route to spav:n in our streams; 



"Despite some feeble liaitations imposed by State, lav;,, ue have- witnessed 

 the practical destruction, of the vjhole of the saLmon,,. .and shad, .and- sturgeon 

 from the Atlantic 'Coast, 'j'e. have seen the destruction, cf salm^on along the 

 Pacific 'c'o'ast' 'until' finally there is but one larg.e salmon, fishery, rem.aining— 

 that upoh' the Al.askan coast, 'where ye still xake ^50,000., 000. a. year in fish, - 

 But even' Alaska, v.'ith the demoniac assistance of the tin. can, will-'-unless if 

 is vigorously restrained — 'iiave been lost in another, t^n years,", 



IVhile a voider recognition of the abuses mientioned above has tended to 

 retard this rapid decline, the future of public fishing is still being jeopar- 

 dized by these factors. -. 



Evil effects of man's onslaughts on the stock of fishes v;ere noted in 

 colonial days and they have gro;m T/ith the increase of the hum.an population.' 

 Drainage, pollution, and over-fishing,, evils all traceable to m.an, are un- 

 doubtedly the primary causes f or ..tho present ..obvious decline. Placing any 

 large part of the blame for the general fish shortage upon fish-eating birds 

 is entirely unjustifiable. That these birds sometim.es cause damage serious 

 enough tc call for some measure of local control is not denied, but reason 

 and fairness to both fishermen and bird lovers should detormiine the policy 

 toivard those forms of --.dldlifo. 



Fish and Bird Rolationships 



ia considering the problem of fish and bird relationships, it is to be 

 remembered that :7hen our fishes and fisheries vjere at their best, the fish- 

 eating birds liko^-;ise v'ere at their maximum abundance and comparatively free 

 from control by'm.an. In these- circumstances it is difficult to believe that 

 the birds have contributed greatly to the general doclino of tho fish popula- 

 tion,' If all fish-eating birds were exterminated,- it -.:Ould by no moans insure 

 unrestrained fishing nor v;ould it noticeably alter the present fishing situa- 

 tion throughout the country,- 



^2" 



