163 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



FISH AND PROTECTION. 



THE wider the extent of territory the more difficult it be- 

 comes to make close seasons for the protection of fish 

 found in that territory. Certain edible fish have circum- 

 scribed limits, as the whitefish of the lakes, but other fish, 

 such as the salmon, shad and bass, are migrants, and come 

 and go just as do the birds, seeking at particular seasons the 

 open sea and then returning to their first habitat, the rivers. 

 The main reason, paramount to all others, why there are close 

 seasons is to give to the ferae naturae- the chance to propagate 

 their kind and to protect them during the breeding period. 

 It is this, the common sense view of the thing, which out- 

 rides all others. By a law of nature it is at the exact time 

 when the salmon or the shad ascend the rivers to reproduce 

 their kmd that they are, however, caught. You cannot take 

 salmon or shad, excepting in an accidental way, outside of 

 the rivers. Nature intended these fish to be used at this 

 precise time, for they are then in their best condition. The 

 fish have left the fresh water for a year or more and found in 

 the sea the food requisite for their better development. They 

 have been prepared for that drain on their organisms which 

 conies with the reproduction of their kind. Fish are. then, 

 at that season sent us to be caught, and to serve man's pur- 

 poses for food; but the question is, "How many of them 

 should be caught ?" "We are not looking at fish which are 

 nomadic, as the mackerel, in regard to which the most 

 stupid of laws and the unfairest have been made by the legis- 

 lators at Washington. We direct our remarks at the 

 present only toward shad and salmon. 



It has been frequently stated in the Times, and is repeated 

 now, that if it was thought worth while, 99 out of every 100 

 shad which ascend the North River could be caught. If it 

 would pay to take all the shad, they would be taken, or, if 

 not taken, could be prevented from ascending the river. Any 

 company of fishermen, freed from legislative restrictions, 

 with sufficient capital, could stretch a series of nets which, 

 for all practical purposes, would intercept the shad ascend- 

 ing either the North River or the Connecticut River. With 

 salmon, if nets were used without let or hindrance, no fish 

 could ascend the Penobscot or the Restigouche. In Oregon, 

 where nets are used on the Columbia River, the effects on 

 the salmon are already discernible in a diminishing sup- 

 ply, and the Columbia is among the largest of American 

 streams. 



Mankind, at least a large portion of it, is singularly ignor- 

 ant of what its true interests, and in gaining a livelihood it 

 gleans all it can to-day, quite indifferent of the morrow. It 

 is exaggerating a natural impulse to call the wholesale cap- 

 ture of lish something actuated by greed alone. The fisher- 

 man is no more greedy than the farmer or the man of gen- 

 eral business ; but the farmer knows what are the limits of 

 production and something about the laws which regulate it. 

 The fisherman does not. If we wish to be precise and accu- 

 rate as far as fish are concerned, the wisest ichthyologist, 

 even the present admirable head of the United States Fish 

 Commission, would be chary, as to giving the reason why shad 

 are plenty one year and not the next, or why salmon are rare 

 during certain periods. If you were to ask Prof. Goode why 

 bluefish have been present in quantity late this season and 

 menhaden have been wanting, he would answer that "he did 

 not know. " He might express the idea that in years to come 

 we may get some inkling about, it, that it was among the 

 most important of questions, but that to-day he and all the 

 most learned of men were quite at sea about it. It is prob- 

 able, however, that if the Fish Commission were consulted, 

 whose interests in regard to the food fishes are of a general 

 kind, lookiug not to the fish of one section, but of all of 

 them, they would be opposed to any legal restrictions 

 directed toward sea fish, while they would be quite positive 

 that certain enactments should be made and rigorously 

 carried out toward indiscriminate fishing at all seasons in 

 our lakes and rivers. Their argument, like that of all who 

 understand the question, is this, thatif the anadromous fish, 

 such as the shad or salmon, are not allowed to ascend the 

 streams to deposit their eggs, the stock of such fish must 

 sensibly diminish and in time disappear. We must, how- 

 ever, catch the fish as they ascend the rivers. Taking that 

 for granted, nevertheless the opportunity should be allowed 

 for some of the fish to escape the toils set for them. It is for 

 this reason that on certain days of the week during the shad 

 season the fish have some twenty-four hours' grace given 

 them. The last Legislature passed a law compelling the 

 taking of shad nets out of the Hudson on Saturdays at sun- 

 down, and not to be replaced until Monday at sunrise. Shad 

 can then ascend the stream, at least near New York, but 

 whether they escape the toils higher up the river is not so 

 positive. State Fish Commissioners spend the money of the 

 State for restocking the rivers with shad. Were it not for 

 their labors it is probable that there would be a dearth of 

 fish in the North River, but their work, judiciously carried 

 on though it may be, must be rendered perfectly ineffectual 

 were there not some slight restrictions imposed on fishing. 



The difficulties in the way of Fish Commissioners in the 

 State of New r York are somewhat lessened because the Hud- 

 son runs for the major parts within the territory of the 

 State, but when a stream to be stocked flows through vari- 

 ous States it seems as if it were utterly impossible to unite 

 general interests. If it be shad or salmon, the young fry 

 have to be put in the river at its source, A. But those who 

 live at A have no interest in the fish, because when mature 

 it is those who live at B who will catch them. Why should a 

 State at A pay money for the benefit of others who will 

 catch and sell or eat the salmonatB, which is an other State? 

 B is delighted with A's endeavors, but will not contribute a 

 penny toward the expenses. Legislatures will not unite for 

 general benefit, and on the question of protection two States 

 divided by a river are often entirely at variance. As an 

 example of this, what is a matter of moment for the State 

 of New York is a subject of utter indifference to New Jersey, 

 No better instance of this can be given than the law passed 

 in regard to lobsters. It was evident from the catch of lob- 

 sters coming into New York and Boston in the past that they 

 were diminishing in size and quantity. The loss in quantity 

 could be accounted for. All the female lobsters, with their 

 eggs attached to them, were being destroyed. It would not 

 have been possible to make laws or to have them carried out 

 prohibiting lobsterers from taking the mother shellfish, 

 What was done, mainly through the exertions of the Ameri 

 can Fishcultural Society, was to have a law passed in this 

 State prohibiting the sale of lobsters below a certain stand 

 ard of size, but New Jersey would not sanction such a law, 

 Jersey City then became the market for lobsters of all sizes, 

 ai.d cargoes were diverted from New York. The New York 

 supply of lobsters was cut off. During the time when the 

 law was operative in New York State thousands of young 

 lobsters under the legal size and liable to seizure were 

 thrown alive into the waters of the bay. This season the 

 lobster men in the vicinity of New York from Hurl Gate to 

 Sandy Hook have caught innumerable lobsters. These are 

 the lobsters which had been taken off the Maine coast or 

 elsewhere. Through some peculiar but misguided influences, 

 in the face of the protest of our Fish Commissioners, the law 

 in regard to lobsters in this State was repealed, and to-day 

 you can catch and sell a lobster of any size in the market. 

 The consequence has been that for the season lobsters too 

 small to eat have been taken in amazing quantity, which are 

 sold at prices which bring no remuneration to the lobsterer 

 or the commission house selling them. Such lobsters as are 

 of good size are reduced in prices as the poorer grades are in 

 such quantity as to bring down the price of the full-sized 

 fish. There is apparently some benefit to the public. We 

 are buying food cheaper than in former seasons, be it good 

 or- bad food, but as certainly as the day is followed by the 

 night* nest season there will beJiewer lobsters; and we will 



go diminishing our supply until in a few years lobsters will 

 je higher and scarcer than ever they were before. 



The beneficial effects of any law, be it for the protection of 

 man or fish, is not appreciable in a single year, or in a few 

 years. As to the lobster law, the good it did would not 

 have been apparent at the beginning, for it was not opera- 

 tive along the whole New England coast. Imperfect as it 

 was on this account, it would have taken fully 10 years, 

 maybe 20, before we could have judged of its effects. But as 

 it is to-day— though all prophecies about fish are hazardous 

 — it is believed by those who have studied the subject, look- 

 ing at it in a general and not a special way, that the repeal 

 of the lobster law was a blunder. 



There are certain considerations in regard to legislative 

 ac tion which should be presented, and these are the claims 

 of the people for food when opposed to the amusement of 

 the sportsman. Stanhope declared that in many of the 

 English shires "the rabbit is now the best ally of the English 

 Radical." Such antagonism has never yet existed in the 

 "United States. Trout is a fish which has been very thor- 

 oughly protected. It is not only illegal to catch trout out of 

 season, but the dealer placing trout on his stand during the 

 close season is liable to a heavy fine, no matter where his 

 fish come from, whether they had been caught out of the 

 country, or had been taken during the legal season, the fish 

 having been preserved for a year on ice. Though this law 

 has been rigidly 7 enforced, there are many acute lawyers who 

 believe that if a test case was carried to the highest courts 

 local jurisdiction would be worsted. We are only questioning 

 its legality, not the benefits derived from the rigorous carry- 

 ing out of the law. It is ^possible, but for the fear of a 

 money penalty that there would be but few streams having 

 trout "in them which would not be fished out to-day. Fortu- 

 nately for the community, trout is rather a luxury than 

 otherwise. Its quantity is too small when compared with 

 other fish, as to not materially affect the supply of fish in any 

 way. If all trout culture were abandoned and the supply 

 not forthcoming, the general price of fish would not be aug- 

 mented. In the legislative action of the State in regard to 

 fish two influences are felt. One is the essentially ignorant 

 one, clamorous for the right to fish in and out of season, who 

 will not brook any idea of a close season, and who want to 

 catch fish where they please, how they please, and when they 

 please. The river shore, some of the most clamorous repre- 

 sent, has a length of, say, five, miles, and they entirely ignore 

 the rights of those who live along a shore which has an ex- 

 tent or 495 miles. It is not that these people are selfish, but 

 their horizon is limited. They are the constituents of some 

 legislator who regards their claims as an important factor in 

 his next election. These representatives consider the whole 

 matter of but little importance whether it can be carried or 

 not; still they do their best for their friends, and they become 

 blocks standing in the way of consistent and general legisla- 

 tion in regard to fish. There are frequently at Albany a dozen 

 members, every one with a particular scheme in regard to 

 fish who knows far less about fish than does his wife, who 

 buys the shad or the striped bass for his table. 



A second element, and by no means an unimportant one, 

 is that which represents what is called "the angler rights," 

 if he has any rights which others are not permitted to enjoy. 

 Often legislators are sportsmen themselves, and are none 

 the worse, but all the better for that. These have, however, 

 particular hobbies of their own. They will legislate for a 

 peculiar branch or creek running in the proximity of their 

 own farm or country seat, and will sometimes succeed in 

 passing an iron-bound law for their little rivulet which, be- 

 cause of its sweeping character, affects seriously the food 

 supply of New York. Some years ago an article published 

 in the Times apparently hit the nail on the head and, 

 though written in a laughing way, was tak n in a serious 

 light. But its effects were excellent. Of late years, we are 

 pleased to state, the character of sportsmen's and anglers' 

 clubs have materially changed, and they have learned that 

 it was not by special, but by general legislative action that 

 their interests or their pleasures should be respected. The 

 latter influence exerted cry these clubs has been excellent, 

 because it has lost its former officiousness. For the real 

 good they have done their smaller errors are to be forgiven. 

 Without them to-day the general public would have re- 

 mained uneducated as to what are the natural laws govern- 

 ing beasts, birds and fish. They have had for their maxim, 

 "Waste not, want not," and paradoxical as it may seem, 

 they will give lessons of humanity in condemning cruelty to 

 God's creatures. 



There is as far as fish are concerned, a third set of men. 

 few in number, who are the Commissioners of the State. 

 They receive no emolument, but devote a great deal of labor 

 to the fishing interests of the State. It is anomalous when 

 one remembers that these persons are appointed by the 

 State to their positions because considered to have the great- 

 est experience in such subjects that their counsel is rarely 

 asked or their admonitions thought worthy of considera- 

 tion. It is not alone in Albany, but in Washington, that 

 the opinions of leading experts have been overslaughed by 

 an ignorent majority. 



A notable case of this kind was that legislation passed to 

 come soon into effect in regard to all mackerel caught on 

 the broad seas. From Huxley, in England, down to the last 

 addition to the United States" Fish Commission all were of 

 the opinion that any laws directed toward the catching of 

 mackerel were utterly useless. Huxley showed that m a 

 single day the predaceous fish, with the birds, consumed 

 more mackerel than man could take with all his implements 

 in a season. The highest authority on the subject of mack- 

 erel, the present Fish Commissioner, Prof. G. Brown Goode, 

 explained how futile, had been these restrictive enactments, 

 and, tracing their history, showed that they were first pro- 

 mulgated in regard to mackerel in New England in the 

 seventeenth century. But legislators of to-day take no heed 

 of the blunders of 1698, and in the face of all those who really 

 know something about it, restrictive measures in regard to 

 mackerel fishing were passed. When this law is carried out 

 it will benefit a few fishermen in Maine, a good many other 

 fishermen in Canada, and will paralyze a great industry in 

 the rest of New England, and must enhance the price of 

 ordinary fish food at the very time when most wanted— that 

 is, at the beginning of spring. Many thousands of dollars 

 expended in fishing smacks will bring no returns. A large 

 sum paid out in wages in former years will no longer be 

 earned, and poor people will go hungry because legislators 

 will meddle with things about which they know less than 

 nothing. 



Fishculture and legislation must follow one another. If 

 the State furnishes money to increase the supply of fish it 

 has the right to protect the fish. It may therefore happen 

 that additional legislative action may be directed toward 

 such new fish as are placed in our State waters. 



The Hudson River is beginning to be a salmon-producing 

 stream. In 1886 some fifty good-sized salmon were taken. 

 This year there have been 100 fish caught. These fish were 

 placed in the Hudson River some five years ago. The eggs 

 were from the Penobscot River, and were sent by the United 

 States Fish Commissioner to Mr. E. G. Blackford, our State 

 Fish Commissioner, and the young fish were hatched at 

 Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. The last Legislature 

 made an appropriation for the construction of a fjshway at 

 Troy, so that when it is built there will be no trouble in the 

 adult fish ascending the Hudson so as to deposit their spawn 

 in the upper regions of the river. In order to have a stock 

 of salmon in the Hudson, protection will be necessary. 



There is no fish more difficult to legislate about than sal- 

 mon, because it is an important article of food, which trout, 

 as has been shown, is not. But the trouble about it is that, 

 more than the trout, it is as anglers know th- most attract^ 



ive of all fish to catch. Were supplies of fresh salmon to 

 come only from the Atlantic side the question of protection 

 as far as prohibiting the sale of salmon during the close 

 season might become possible; but to-day as many salmon 

 come from the Western and from the Eastern rivers. Salmon 

 caught in the Penobscot scarcely enter as a factor in the 

 supply which reaches New York. Taking all the salmon 

 sent to this market from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick nr 

 elsewhere to be generally designated as Atlantic salmon, the 

 season opens about the 26th ofMay and closes on the 20th of 

 July. For the sixty days the total receipts are something 

 like 118,000 pounds. When the last of the Atlantic salmon 

 have been marketed in the Eastern States, then from August 

 to April of the next year the California and Pacific salmon 

 come in. The quantity of fish sent during these eight months 

 is close on to 800,000 pounds, and as railroad or other com- 

 munications are multiplied, the receipts from new and here- 

 tofore unfished rivers will be likely to increase the total 

 quantity. Certain kinds of Pacific salmon have not been 

 rated as highly as the Atlantic fish, but of late there have 

 been forwarded Chinnock salmon, from Puget Sound, Wash- 

 ington Territory, which are in every respect as fine as the 

 best Restigouche salmon. Methods of packing have been 

 careful, and by means of refrigerating cars the Pacific sal- 

 mon reach the Eastern market as expeditiously and in quite 

 as good a condition as Atlantic fish. It is only a question of 

 price which regulates the supply and quality. 



We do not see, then, how the same methods of protection 

 as are applicable to trout as prohibiting the sale of salmon 

 during the close season could be carried out. Though there 

 are distinctive traits in the Atlantic and Pacific salmon 

 which to the ichthyologist are at once discernible, to ordi- 

 nary eyes these could not be appreciated. The only way 

 salmon in the Hudson could be protected would be by means 

 of a close season as regards fishing, and the establishing of 

 certain fixed days during the salmon run when no nets could 

 be drawn in the river. The subject is one, however, of a 

 very complex character because of shad fishing, which takes 

 place in the Hudson at the same time as the salmon are run- 

 ning. How salmon in the Hudson are to be cared for we 

 leave the Fish Commissioners to determine, but we are sat- 

 isfied that the same methods of legislation as have been 

 directed toward trout could not be used.— New York Times. 



THE EVENING SMUDGE. 



WHEN "Pard" and I were enjoying our annual outing along 

 the trout streams of Sullivan county. Pa., last June, the 

 mosquitoes, punkieg, black flies, dumb flies and other pestlverous 

 insects seemed uncommonly numerous, and the pathetic sight of 

 whole families of mountaineers gathered in the gloaming about a 

 dense smudge had such an effect upon us that we resolved upon 

 our return to invoke the muse and endeavor in me realms of 

 poesy to do the subject justice. Here are our united efforts: 



MOTHER LIGHT THE EVENING SMUDGE. 



The sun is sinkin', motlier, 



And the skeeter's in the air. 

 While the ptuiky and the sandfly 



Begin to rip and tear. 

 Fetcn a buncn of green ferns, mother, 



Then to your chip pile trudge. 

 Bring an armful of dry kindhn's, 



Mother light the evenin' smudge. 



Tho wkipperwill is singin', 



And the dumb fly's layin' low, 

 The burdock leaves be bringin' 



To make the lire burn slow. 

 The gnats are tarnal frisky, 



Gin the babe they've got a grudge, 

 ■While 1 take a drop of whisky, 



Mother light the evenin' smudge. 



Remove your corncob pipe, mother, 



Lay it softly on the chair, 

 Inflate your leathery lungs, mother, 



With this glorious mountain air. 

 Blow yon spark to swift ignition, 



(Thanks, another drop oE budge), 

 Make it hum like all perdition. 



Mother light tho eveniu' smudge. 



For I see heyond the clearin.' 



Them anglers drawin' nigh, 

 The two with fancy gearin' 



Who fish for trout with fly: 

 They're steerin' for the cabin, 



B'gosh, or I'm no judge, 

 Git a match and stop your gabbin', 



Or you'll never light the smudge. 



Jest 'fore I quit a-choppin' 



Down there below the mill, 

 Darn if they wa'ant a-stoppin' 



Their brier pipes to fill. 

 When from out one feller's basket 



There flopped (give Pete a nudge) 

 A trout. How big? Don't ask it, 



But hurry up the smudge. 



Well, boys, what luck a-fishin'; 



Are they bltin' well to-day? 

 Net muoh, eh? Well, hee's wishin' 



You may ketch lots while you stay. 

 That's darn good hacker, fellers, 



Beats my twenty-cent old sludge, 

 It feels good in my smellers, 



Mother light the evening smudge. 



In explanation of the foregoing, let me say that to the ordinary 

 observer the last clause of the third line and the whole of the 

 fourth would convey the impression that the fishermen at that, 

 juncture had tendered a bottle to the old settler and that, beforo 

 imbibing he had wished them good luck. This is not so, however, 

 and the careful reader will note by the tenor of the rest of tho 

 verse that it was only his to'oacco pouch that tho parson offered. 

 The closing verse is purely ideal, based on an intimate knowledge 

 of mountaineer peculiarities possessed by "Pard" and myself 

 through many years wandering over the Sullivan couuty mount- 

 ains. 



"A dry crowd for the mountains 



Them chaps that just passed by, 

 They'd rather drink at fountains 



Than to rasslo with old rye. 

 But I hear the clock a-=trikin' 



Eight. To bed let's quickly trudge, 

 For water now be pikm', 



Mother douse the evening smudge." H, W. D. L, 

 Dansvtllb, N. Y. 



QUEBEC CLOSE SEASON. 



Salmon (angling), from Sept. 1 to May 1. (Ristigouche River, 

 Aug. 15 to May 1.) . , , ' _ 



Speckled trout (Salmo fontinalis), Oct. I to Jan. 1. 

 LaTge gray trout, lunge and winninish, Oct. lo to Dec. 1. 

 PickereL April 15 to May 15. 

 Bass and niaskinonge. April 15 to June 15. 

 Whitefish, Nov. 10 to Dec. 1. 



Fine of $5 to $20, or imprisonment in default of payment. 



N. B.— Angling Dy baud (with hook and line), is the only means 

 permitted to oe used for takiug fish in the waters of the lakes and 

 ri\ ers under the control of the Government of the Province of 



^Vo person, who is not domiciled in the Province of Quebec, can, 

 at any time, fish in the lakes or rivers of this Province, not 

 actually under loase, without having previously obtained a per- 

 mit to that effect from the Commissioner of Crown Lands. Such 

 permit is valuable for a fishing season, and is not transferable. 



Keokuk, la., Aug. 31, 1887. 

 J. F, Breiteiistein, President of Keokuk Gun Ciuh^ = 

 Deak Sir— The two boxes of paper shells, "Chraax," U. S. Car- 

 tridge Co., which you so kindly handed me, have been thoroughly 

 tested, and I, after my long experience as an expert amateur, 

 without hesitation pronounce them the best shells made, being 

 lerfeciion for wet and dry shooting. They cannot be excelled. 

 Showing perfectly well what I am writing about, J subscribe my. 



self, yours truly. 



(Signed) H. A. Kinnaman, Advt 



