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Appendices to Fifth Annual Report 



Lobsters, however, seem to lend themselves readily to artificial culture, 

 and were arrangements made for hatching even the ' berries ' that are 

 found on the adults when captured, the lobster fisheries might, in a few 

 years, yield double what they do at the present day. 



Since it has been discovered how to artificially fertilise trout eggs, more or 

 less continuous experiments have been made in the culture of the Salmonidae, 

 but several generations have been required to bring the process to per- 

 fection. This being the case, it need not be wondered that the artificial 

 hatching of sea fish has not yet obtained a firm footing, for the first trust- 

 worthy experiments made were those of the German Commissioners (Meyer, 

 Mobius, and others), who hatched numerous herring in 1874, in the Bay 

 of Kiel. A still more striking experiment was made in 1878 by the 

 United States Fish Commission, who set free some millions of artificially 

 hatched cod into Gloucester Harbour, Mass. What became of the fry it 

 is impossible to say with certainty, but the Gloucester fishermen allege 

 that the fry gave rise to a small shoal of cod, which for several years lived 

 in the vicinity of the harbour. They were said to be abundant in 1882, 

 when they had reached a length of 14 inches, and a few were supposed to 

 pay occasional visits to their birthplace as late as the winter of 1884. 



When at Woods Holl (the Marine Station of the U.S. Fish Commission), 

 in 1884, arrangements were being made for engaging in the hatching of 

 cod and other sea fish on a large scale. The Commissioner (Professor 

 Spencer Baird) seems sanguine of ultimate success, for in March 1886 he 

 wrote to a correspondent in the following terms : — 



' I have read with much interest your letter relating to the abundance 

 4 and disappearance of fish in Penobscot Bay. It is a very difficult matter 

 ' to say, positively, what has been the most potent of the many causes for 

 ' the disappearance of fish from their accustomed haunts. I think, how- 

 * ever, I can answer with some certainty, that it is within our power, by 

 ' means of artificial propagation, to overstock waters and re-establish such 

 1 fish as cod and haddock in localities where they formerly abounded. 



' From experiments which have already been made, it can be asserted, 

 ' with considerable confidence, that a shoal of cod may be established in 

 ' any given locality by constant deposits of fish produced by artificial 

 c means.' 



By having absolute control of the fishery work, Professor Baird has had 

 striking successes in fields where a timid Board would never have dared 

 enter. He has introduced shad into the Pacific, and he has done his 

 best to attract cod and other valuable fishes to the inshore grounds of the 

 Atlantic seaboard by introducing millions of shad fry annually into the 

 estuaries and bays along the coast. But the Fish Commissioner will 

 accomplish a greater feat still, if he succeeds in establishing local shoals of 

 cod and haddock in the vicinity of Gloucester and other fishing centres. 



What success has attended the experiments at Woods Holl during the 

 present season I have not yet learned. This much is certain, that they 

 will not fail for want of enterprise on the part of the Fish Commission, or 

 for want of supplies from the enlightened Government of the United 

 States. 



Let us now consider what has been accomplished in Norway. Norway 

 is more directly interested in the fisheries than any other country in 

 Europe. It has been estimated that one in every 22 of the inhabitants of 

 Norway is engaged in the fishing industry — in Scotland there is one 

 fisherman for every 75 inhabitants, in Ireland one for every 200, and 

 in Ergland only one for every 600 of its inhabitants. It is only natural 

 that Norway should possess a 'Society for Promoting the Norwegian 

 4 Fisheries,' with branches at the principal fishing centres. In 1882 the 



