542 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 9, 1892. 



FISHES OF NICARAGUA, 



Mr. Charles W. Richmond, who is making extensive 

 natural history collections in Nicaragua, writes as fol- 

 lows from Grey town about some of the fish of the region: 



"Some small fish were found inclosed in crevices of a 

 log floating in a salt-water pond in company with hermit 

 crabs. I have made a trip up the Rio Frio, emptying 

 into Lake Nicaragua, about fifty miles into Costa Rica, 

 and found sharks almost all the way. The man I had 

 with me was catching some fish one morning, and as 

 he was pulling in a fine large specimen there was a loud 

 splash, and a shark grabbed the fish after it was partly 

 out of water, taking hook and all. The 'tarpon,' as they 

 call a large fish here, is also found way up the Rio Frio; 

 it makes a loud splashing frequently, and is very abund- 

 ant in the lake and the San Juan. There is a 'catfish,' 

 according to the Americans here, that is common on the 

 San Juan. It hangs about the steamboats in large num- 

 bers—I have seen nearly 100 at a time — and they are 

 ravenous, jumping almost out of water to get at anything 

 thrown overboard. Of course this takes place when the 

 boat is at rest. They see a cracker long before it reaches 

 the water and all rush for it; the cracker is often knocked 

 out of the water several times before they finally get it. 

 A small mottled fish, common around Grey town, blows 

 up like a balloon on being taken out of the water; I ex- 

 ploded one by squeezing it too hard." 



SALE OF ARTIFICIALLY REARED TROUT 



[A paper read before the American Fisheries Society.] 



I have always been greatly interested in the fish and 

 game interests of the country, and also in the passage 

 and enforcement of all reasonable laws for the protec- 

 tion of the same. 



I presume my father did more than any other man in 

 Plymouth, and at his own expense, in stocking the public 

 waters of that town with black bass and white perch. I 

 have on several occasions restocked the only public trout 

 stream in Plymouth with trout fry whenever I had a sur- 

 plus after stocking my own ponds. 



As only a small portion of the people are interested in 

 the fish and game laws, it is always well in framing them 

 to guard against the possible danger of having them so 

 arbitrary as to interfere with the private rights of the 

 people or with their industrial pursuits. We had an ex- 

 ample of this nature in Massachusetts. Under the law 

 the Fish Commissioners had power to lease the fishing 

 rights in any great pond of over twenty acres to private 

 parties, and they did so with a large number, thus taking 

 away from the people at large the right to fish in any 

 leased pond, under a penalty of $20 to $50 for every 

 offense. The people stood it for a few years, and in 1884 

 they appeared at the State House in force and demanded 

 and obtained the repeal of the law, and now the Commis- 

 sioners have not the power to lease any pond in the 

 Sta.te. 



The policy of Massachusetts, and also of other States, 

 has been to encourage the cultivation of trout and other 

 useful fishes as a food product, and it was for this pur- 

 pose that the several States and also the United States 

 organized the Fish Commissions, and Massachusetts 

 passed the law of 1869, the title of which is "An act to 

 encourage the cultivation of useful fishes," by which act 

 the people, for this purpose, surrendered to private par- 

 ties, being riparian owners, all their fishing rights in 

 every pond of less area than twenty acres, also in every 

 unnavigable stream in the State. It also made fishes 

 artificially cultivated or maintained the absolute property 

 of the person cultivating or maintaining them. It also 

 made it a penalty of $<J0 to $50 to fish in any waters in 

 the State in which fishes are lawfully artificially culti- 

 vated or maintained. 



The Commissioners called the attention of the people 

 to this law in their report for the year ending Jan. 1, 

 1870, in the following words: "The need of such a law as 

 this is the same as the need of a law to protect any in- 

 dustry. While on the one hand we recognize the fact 

 that a supply of good fresh- water fishes, among which 

 we class the salmon, shad, trout, black bass and smelt, 

 are essential as food for our people, we are still compelled 

 to admit that the supply is constantly diminishing, and 

 that several of these fishes are in many localities exter- 

 minated. For this deplorable state of things there was 

 but one remedy and that was to make fishes under cer- 

 tain conditions property, and thus give the same stimulus 

 to the cultivation of fish that is given to the raising of 

 any other live stock. Under the knowledge we now have 

 such cultivation is as easy as that of poultry." 



The successful cultivation of trout is no longer a mat- 

 ter of doubt. It has passed through the experimental 

 stages and now stands out as destined to become one of 

 the great industries of the people, and it will if the sev- 

 eral States will only realize the importance of encour- 

 aging the industry by repealing or modifying the re- 

 strictive laws in relation to the sale of artificially reared 

 trout. Some of the States have already done this. Con- 

 necticut, Rhode Island and Maryland have modified their 

 laws in relation to the sale of trout artificially raised, and 

 a bill to that effect has already passed the Massachusetts 

 Senate, and is now pending in the House of Representa- 

 tives, and we trust New York and other States will fol- 

 low suit in the near future. Our trout are all artificially 

 reared from the egg, in artificially made ponds and on 

 artificial food which we buy, and we pay a tax not only 

 on our plant but also on our trout as stock in trade, and 

 the law declares them to be our absolute property. 



Under these conditions we feel that we are entitled to 

 the same property rights in trout at all seasons of the 

 year that every class of property that is useful to man as 

 a food product has, namely, the right to sell it at any 

 and at all times when it is desirable to do so, and that 

 our customers and ourselves shall be the judge of when 

 that time is and not the State. Remove the restrictions 

 from the sale of cultivated trout from Jan. 15 to April 1 

 and people now in the business will enlarge their estab- 

 lishments to their utmost extent to meet the largely in- 

 creased demand, and others will be induced to enter into 

 the industry to such an extent that ten years hence 501bs. 

 will be raised annually where one is now, thus giving 

 employment and wealth to the people engaged in the in- 

 dustry, taxation to the towns and State, and the advan- 

 tage of having this additional amount of food fishes 

 added to the food product of the country during the lat- 

 ter part of the winter, when nearly every kind of fish is 

 scarce and often in poor condition, while cultivated trout 



are in fine order. It is an old adage that he who makes 

 two blades of grass grow where one grew before is a 

 public benefactor, and it must be admitted that he who 

 makes 10,000 to 20,0001bs. of trout grow annually where 

 none grew before is also a public benefactor, and if re- 

 strictions against the sale are removed or modified, large 

 tracts of now waste land and water will become valuable 

 for the cultivation of trout, and the expectations of Dr. 

 Garlick, Dr. Ackley, Ainsworth, Seth Green, Livingston 

 Stone, Theodore Lyman and other early disciples of fish- 

 culture will be realized, much valuable property created 

 annually, many persons benefited, and no one in the 

 least injured. I trust this Society will give this subject 

 careful consideration, and that the laws of the several 

 States will soon be changed so as to give full justice to 

 fishculturists. W. L. Gilbert. 



Governor Russell Vetoes the Bill. 



The bill to permit in close season the sale of artificially 

 reared trout having passed the Legislature, Governor 

 Russell last week vetoed it, setting forth the following 

 reasons of his action: 

 The Honorable House of Representatives: 



I return herewith, with my objections, a bill entitled 

 "An act to permit the taking and sale of trout artificially 

 raised in this commonwealth between the 15th day of 

 January and the 1st day of April in each year," which 

 originated in your body. This bill, introduced upon the 

 petition of individuals largely interested in the artificial 

 propagation and maintenance of trout, permits the sale 

 of such trout at a season when the sale of other trout is 

 forbidden by law. 



The commonwealth, by many and careful regulations 

 and restrictions, has rigorously undertaken the preserva- 

 tion of her useful fish. In furtherance of this well estab- 

 lished and wise policy, she has created important and 

 expensive offices, made large appropriations of money, 

 imposed restrictions and obligations upon private owner- 

 ship of land and water used or useful for fisheries, care- 

 fully limited the time, manner and place of fishing, and, 

 as a regulation, the most stringent and efficient short of 

 entire prohibition, forbidden the purchase, sale or pos- 

 session of any fish out of the lawful season. 



AIL of this State supervision and interference with per- 

 sonal liberty and private property have been only upon 

 the conceded, fact of the common interest of all the peo- 

 ple in the preservation of useful fish in the common- 

 wealth, and the necessity of united and so of State action 

 to this end. Such action, year by year increasing, has 

 been with the approval and upon the demand of the peo- 

 ple. Among the fish most needing and constantly re- 

 ceiving such legal protection, have been trout. For their 

 preservation and increase not only has the commonwealth 

 greatly restricted their catch, but she has also established 

 hatcheries, appropriated money for the propagation and 

 distribution of trout, and encouraged individual assist- 

 ance by granting rights of flowage and other privileges. 



The sole object of this policy has been to make a val- 

 uable food and game fish, now scarce and dear, again 

 plenty and cheap. 



The catching of trout, if unrestricted, either as to time 

 or manner of fishing, would soon exterminate them. 

 The restrictions already established are necessarily diffi- 

 cult of enforcement, and in my judgment would become 

 impossible of enforcement and practically useless if it is 

 made for one's pecuniary interest to violate them by 

 opening to him a valuable market out of season. This 

 bill, I believe, will work just this evil. It permits the 

 sale of a trout which differs from other trout only in 

 being artificially fed. It opens a market for such sale to 

 a special interest, while it is closed to all others. The 

 restrictions of the bill, intended to prevent the sale of 

 other trout, can be easily evaded and I believe would be 

 practically useless. Once permit the possession, sale and 

 purchase of artificially-raised trout during the close 

 season and all trout may soon be made to meet the re- 

 quired condition or escape destruction if they do not. 

 The most potent influence for the preservation and in- 

 crease of this fish — namely, the prohibition of a market 

 — will then be lost. 



If this bill becomes a law I do not see how its prirciple 

 can fail to be extended whenever any other individual, 

 taking a special pecuniary interest in the artificial raising 

 of other fish or game, demands for the protection and 

 development of his industry special privileges at the pub- 

 lic expense and obnoxious to the public interests. 



I am not ready to give my approval to legislation of 

 this character, nor to aid in establishing an artificial trout 

 industry by special favorB from government, to the 

 injury of the public, because at the expense of the wise 

 and well-established policy of this commonwealth, which 

 seeks to preserve her fish and game for the benefit of all 

 her people. 



The industry already existing was established with full 

 knowledge of this policy, and has prospered without the 

 aid of special legislation in its interest. I object to this 

 bill therefore, 



First — Because it permits an act which I believe will re- 

 move the most efficient restraint upon the illegal catch- 

 ing of trout and will lead to their extermination. 



Second — Because it establishes a precedent which if 

 followed, will go far to destroy the usefulness of the fish 

 and game laws of the commonwealth. 



Third— Because in effect, if not in form, it is legislation 

 for a special interest against the public interest, and to 

 the public injury. William E. Russell. 



Channel Bass at Cape Cod. 



Woods Holl, Mass., May 26,— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: A red bass {Sciama ocellata) weighing 12ibs. 

 was caught in Capt. Spindel's pond May 25. It is the 

 first ever taken here. Fish are very scarce now. All the 

 menhaden taken are full of spawn, which is not ripe and 

 looks as if it would not be ripe until one month later. 

 Last week hundreds of red phalaropes were in Vineyard 

 Sound and Buzzard's Bay, but they have all gone now. — 

 V. N. Edwards. 



North Carolina Black Bass. 



Mr. Chas. Hallock sends us this note received by him 

 from Dr. W. R. Capehart, Avoca, N. C, under date of 

 May 27: Black bass fishing was never better here. 

 Everett caught 221bs. in a few minutes Wednesday the 

 <5th inst. Webb caught a nice lot this A. M. Everett is 

 looking for a party of anglers next week. We will have 

 a daily mail after July 1, which will help us. 



THE NON-EXPORT LAW SOUND. 



Last October the Supreme Court of Connecticut held a 

 statute of that State which prohibited the exportation of 

 certain game from the State to be constitutional. A 

 statute of Arkansas prohibits the exportation of game or 

 fish (except fish in private ponds) from the State. Re- 

 cently Mr. C. H, Organ, master of a steamboat plying the 

 Mississippi River between Memphis, Tenn., and West 

 Memphis, Ark., was convicted of a violation of the statute 

 in transporting a barrel of fish from the latter to the former 

 place. It was conceded that the fish were taken from a 

 lake on public land. Organ appealed the case to the 

 Supreme Court of the State. On May 28, 1892, the case 

 was affirmed, the court, Mr. Judge Hemingway, deliv- 

 ering the following opinion, for a transcript of which we 

 are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. D. Crawford, of 

 Little Rock: 



"The ownership of fish is in the State for the benefit of 

 its people in common, and the Legislature has the right 

 to permit individuals to catch them upon such terms and 

 conditions as it may impose, and to restrict the property 

 acquired in them, when caught, to such extent as it deems 

 proper. (McCready vs. Virginia, 94 U. S. 391. Ameri- 

 can Express Co. vs. Ppople, 31 Cent. L. Jour. 271. Mag- 

 ner vs. People, 97 111. 333.) 



"It may prohibit catching them entirely or for a speci- 

 fied season, or it may permit them to be caught for the 

 use of the person who makes the catch, and withhold the 

 right to sell them or ship them for sale. When preserved 

 for the common benefit of the people of the State they 

 are not articles of commerce in any sense, and we cannot 

 see that they become such simply because the Legislature 

 permits them to be caught by individuals for use within 

 the State only. 



"One who catches them has originally no separate 

 property in them, and no right to acquire it except as the 

 Legislature might provide; as all right of property in them 

 is derived from the State, it is subject to such terms as 

 the Legislature imposes. It saw fit, in the act assailed, to 

 confer a right of property, but to so limit it that the 

 article should not be shipped from the State, the purpose 

 being to restrict the use to those who originally owned it 

 in common. The restriction was imposed by right of 

 ownership, and not in the exercise of any assumed power 

 to regulate the commercial uses of private property. 



"Under this limitation fish never pass from the domin- 

 ion of the State as proprietor or become articles of com- 

 merce in the sense contended for by the defendant, be- 

 cause the qualified property right is conferred upon con- 

 dition that the use shall be restricted and shipment from 

 the State not allowed. It follows that the act does not 

 violate the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution, 

 and it could not be seriously contended that it violated 

 any other constitutional provision. 



"We are aware that a different conclusion has been 

 reached by the courts of Kansas and Idaho (Sanders vs. 

 State, 19 Kas., 127, and Territory vs. Evans, 23 Pac. Rep. 

 (Idaho) 115), but that announced seems to us the better 

 one, and is sustained by the Supreme Court of Connecti- 

 cut, in an opinion to which we refer for a more extended 

 discussion of the subject.— State vs. Geer, 22 N. E. Rep. 

 (Conn.) 1012." 



FLY-CASTING AT SYRACUSE. 



There will be a fly-casting tournament held in connec- 

 tion with the annual meeting of the New York State As- 

 sociation for the Protection of Fish and Game, on Thurs- 

 day, June 16, beginning at 9 o'clock in the morning, at 

 Maple Bay, on Onondaga Lake, under the auspices of 

 the Anglers' Association of Onondaga. 



The classes are as follows, single-handed fly-casting: 



First — Expert class, entrance fee $5: Open to the world. 

 Judges to be appointed on the grounds. 



Second— Class A (amateur), entrance fee $5: Open to 

 those who have never won any prize in a fly-casting tour- 

 nament contest, or been engaged in the manufacture or 

 sale of fishing tackle. 



Third — Class B, entrance fee $5: Open to amateurs and 

 those who have never won a first prize in any casting 

 contest. 



Numerous prizes have been provided, running from 

 $2.50 to $30, and these are the rules: 



HULKS FOB ALL CONTESTS IN FLY-CASTING. 



1. No rod shall be allowed over lift. 61n., and shall be used with a 

 single hand. A practical liDe and reel shall be attached to the rod. 



2. Three flies, one stretcher, and two droppers with gut not less 

 than 3in. in length attached must be used, and a casting line or 

 leader of single gut of not less than 8ft. in length. 



No attached weight of any kind od line or fly shall be allowed. 



3. Each contestant shall be allowed not more than ten minutes for 

 distance, nor more than ten minutes for accuracy; and in case of 

 accident, such as parting or fouling of the fly or line, the referee 

 may allow additional time in his discretion. 



Switch or water casting not permitted. 



4. The contest shall be, as to distance, the number of points ac- 

 cording to the number or feet obtained, and 26 points for accuracy, 

 as follows: 



5. Lane Cast— The line to reach a distance of not less than SOft. 

 When the contestant announces ready, 5 casts in succession shall be 

 made Inside the 24in. space, the lane to be bounded by the two buoy 

 lines, each cast counting one point. Should half the line be outside 

 and half inside, the count will be registered as one-half. 



6. Buoy Cast -Five casts in succession shall be made as soon as 

 the contestant announces ready, at a 12in. buoy at a distance of 

 50ft. ; the leader or any part thereof, crossing or striking any part of 

 said buoy, shall count as one. 



7. Space Cast— Five casts in succession shall be made in a space of 

 4ft., between two objects or bushes, at a distance of 50ft.; each cast 

 shall count as one. The stretcher fly must pass at least 2ft. beyond 

 the said line, between the bushes. 



8. Left Bush Oast — Five casts in succession shall be made at a 

 row of bushes or construction representing same on the left at a 

 distance of 40ft. Any part of the leader passing underneath the 

 outside line of the bush shall couut as one, as in the other contest. 



9. Eight Bush Cast— Five casts in succession shall be made in 

 like manner, the counts to be as in left hand bush contest. 



10. Judges and Refebee -Two judges and a ref ereee shall be ap- 

 pointed by the president of the association. The referee's decision 

 shall be final. 



The Trout was Bound to Get There. 



New York, May 31.— I have just returned from Baby- 

 lon, where I spent yesterday and had a morning's fishing 

 in True's Brook. As the result of my morning's sport I 

 had twelve handsome trout, nine of them weighing lib. 

 each, and one of them turning the scales at If lbs. With 

 this heavy one I had a most unusual experience, the first 

 of the kind that has ever come to my personal observa- 

 tion. I had a heavy strike, and in striking my leader 

 parted and away went my trout. Within five minutes 

 that trout was in my creel, and as he came out of the 

 brook I saw my hook and leaker hanging from his lip. — 

 W. B. B. I. 



