THE SMELTS 
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Crystal Lake, Mich., for example, and stocking some waters farther west, and so on 
until the most remote point is reached. This procedure would take time and money. 
Would the desired results, if attained, be commensurate with the cost? 
DEPLETION 
Seventy-five years ago the early depletion of the smelt fishery was predicted. 
In 1849 Frank Forester (Herbert, 1849), referring particularly to the smelt of the 
Passaic River in New Jersey, said: 
The run of them is becoming less and less numerous every successive season, and it is to be 
apprehended that ere long they will cease to visit us at all. 
Twenty-seven years later, according to Thomas (1876), the fish were scarce 
enough to give rise to his query: “Why can not these fish be made more common?” 
Nearly a decade later than this, Mather (1885) wrote: 
The catch has been gradually decreasing for the past few years, not only at Locust Valley, 
but on all Long Island streams * * *. 
Some 15 or 16 years after Mather’s experiences at Long Island, Cheney (1901) 
wrote : 
For two years past the State of New York has been unable to obtain smelt eggs on Long 
Island, though in former years they ha ve been obtained by the millions, as the plant of fry in 1896 
was 34,000,000, in 1897 45,000,000, and in 1898 48,000,000, all from eggs taken in Long Island 
streams. There was a falling off in 1899 to a very few millions, still worse in 1900, and this year 
[1901] none at all, though the north and south shores were explored at the usual time for smelt 
to run. 
The decrease in the smelt fishery of Massachusetts has already been discussed 
in preceding pages, but in recent years it has been seen that there were a few abun- 
dant local runs. 
In Maine, as long ago as 1869, Atkins (1869) said: 
The impression has been quite general that the smelt fishery is over-done, and that unless 
some radical measures are taken, it will soon fall into as great decay as have the salmon and ale- 
wife fisheries. Indeed, in some parts of the State the decline has already commenced, and even 
where the numbers of the smelts have shown as yet but little diminution, the decrease in size is 
very marked. 
Whether or not the radical measures were taken, for more than 30 years the smelt 
fishery of Maine continued to yield considerable though fluctuating quantities of 
smelts, as has been seen from the discussion of the commercial fishery. However, 
in 1920 the director of sea and shore fisheries of Maine (Crie, 1920) , after discussing the 
probable cause of the depletion of the smelt fishery, expressed the following sentiment : 
Therfore it is quite apparent to anyone who will give the subject the attention it merits that the 
smelt fishery of Maine is depleted and on the wane and it seems to this Commission that, after 
God had furnished this great and abundant food supply to the inhabitants of the State of Maine, 
we are not doing justice to the State or to ourselves unless we enact laws, good rigid and enforce- 
able ones, to protect the smelt in it’s season of reproduction, i. e., the spawning season. 
Whenever there has appeared to be a falling off in the smelt fishery, as in some 
other fisheries, quite generally the fact has been attributed to overfishing, although 
at times some curious opinions concerning the cause of scarcity have been offered. 
