NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 
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keep our mountain streams stocked with trout would be by turning into them a few million fry every 
year from a local hatchery. The basses, etc., need no artificial manipulation. They multiply very 
rapidly, and, as a rule, find suitable places to spawn in the waters in which they are planted. 
The salinity of Great Salt Lake is too great for the propagation of fishes. Nothing larger than 
the brine shrimp is found in its waters. At different periods since the year 1850 the following 
densities have been observed by different persons: 22.28, 14.99, 16.716, 19.557, and 22. 
As has been suggested, I hope your Congress will find some process for drying fish when taken 
from the water, so that they can be shipped as hay, cotton, etc., are shipped to the marts. This 
would indeed be a grand consummation, especially if it is comparatively inexpensive. 
I have all along contended that an acre of water can be made more remunerative than an acre of 
land, and when the comparative labor and expense bestowed upon their respective cultivation is 
considered, the force of the conclusion is irresistible. Our large lakes have never been thoroughly 
prospected. Only a very limited area has been seined, and we do not know what might be found in 
the great areas not yet seined. 
Under the pressure brought to bear on our legislators by selfish men, an abnormal and no doubt 
unconstitutional provision was put iu the fish and game law of the State, which obliges seiners to 
hire and pay the warden for his presence during the seining. The provision reads : 
“Provided, that before any person shall use a seine * * * such person shall secure the pres- 
ence of either the county warden or his deputy, who shall be paid not to exceed $2 per day by the 
party drawing the seine.” 
I would be surprised to find any such provision in the fish law of any other State in the Union. 
To discriminate against fishermen alone is class legislation, and to oblige them to pay a second party 
to keep them from breaking the law is, indeed, to say the very least, remarkable legislation. The 
result is that nearly all the seiners are forced out of the business. Another source of evil, which nearly 
amounts to a crime, is that carp, suckers, etc., are permitted to multiply prodigiously and prey upon 
the spawn and fry of the good fish and to occupy the waters largely to their exclusion. Further, the 
poor people who can not afford to pay from 15 to 30 cents per pound for hass, trout, etc., are barred 
from purchasing the commoner kinds, which by this lawless law virtually prevents their being 
caught. 
The president, having called Vice-president Corwin to the chair, presented his 
paper, “The Hudson as a salmon stream.” In the discussion which followed Messrs. 
Meehan, Corwin, Titcomb, Thompson, Spensley, Peabody, and Cheney participated. 
Dr. H. C. Bumpus, of the Rhode Island Fish Commission, then read his paper on 
“The importance of extended scientific investigation.” In discussing the paper Hon. 
E. Gr. Blackford, of New York, said: 
The point emphasized by Professor Bumpus as to the proper handling of fish is a very important 
one, especially to the fishermen of Florida. Some ten years ago, when the first shipment of fresh fish 
was made to New York from the State of Florida, they were thrown into large casks, indiscriminately, 
and chunks of ice weighing 15 pounds each were put upon top of the fish, then another layer of fish 
was thrown upon the ice, and again another layer of broken ice, and the whole put under a canvas 
cover on the steamer. These were Spanish mackerel. On the arrival of the steamer at New York the 
entire shipment had to be thrown away, as a large portion of the fish were spoiled by decomposition, 
and the remainder were so badly bruised as to be unfit for market purposes. This was a costly 
experiment for the shipper; yet year by year experience has demonstrated to the shippers of fish the 
importance of careful handling and packing, so that now mackerel, pompano, sheepshead, and other 
fish are sent from the most remote parts of Florida to the New York market in perfect condition, and 
bring a fair and remunerative price to the producer. 
As an example of the increased returns to the shippers from careful handling, I call the attention 
of the convention to the fact that certain shipments of shad, going to the New York market from 
North Carolina, bring from 25 per cent to 40 per cent more than other shad from the same locality. 
For instance, a certain shipper from Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, pursues the following method: 
His shad are carefully taken from the nets and placed in a cold room until thoroughly chilled, then 
packed in boxes ; first a layer of fine ice, broken into lumps no larger than chestnuts, is placed in the 
bottom of the box; then the shad are placed in rows, lying on their backs, making a complete layer 
on the ice; then a layer of fine ice is spread over the bellies of the shad, and on this layer is another 
