FINS, FEATHERS AND FUR 
0 
A CONSERVATION PLATFORM 
At the forty-seventh annual meeting of the 
American Fisheries Society, held at St. Paul, 
Minnesota, last August, a committee was ap¬ 
pointed to formulate a statement of the funda¬ 
mental principles essential to wise legislative 
practice relative to the proper utilization of the 
fisheries resources. 
Following is the platform of principles report¬ 
ed by the committee: 
Resolutions adopted at 47th annual meeting, St. 
Paul. Minn., August, 1917. 
Whereas, Under the stress of present condi¬ 
tions the nation has been brought to look care¬ 
fully into the character and the amount of its 
various food supplies; and 
Whereas, In the past it has, through lack of 
attention, failed to appreciate in any real sense 
the significance of its food fishes and the oppor¬ 
tunities afforded by its numerous and varied 
water bodies to produce a large and important 
element for the food supply of the nation; and 
Whereas, We, members of the American 
Fisheries Society in session at the forty-seventh 
annual meeting, held at St. Paul, Minnesota, by 
virtue of our contact with the fishing industry 
and knowledge of its problems and opportunities, 
being thus aware of the dangers in the situation 
and cognizant of the various lines in which the 
nation can be benefitted at the present time, 
desire to record in formal manner those funda¬ 
mental principles which appear to be essential 
to wise legislation and to effective work for the 
proper utilization of the fishing resources of the 
nation, and do accordingly express these views; 
and 
Whereas, Under the stress of war conditions 
expert advice and trained supervision is even 
more necessary than in ordinary times; and 
Whereas, Hasty or inexperienced action may 
easily result in the depletion of natural resources 
which cannot be restored within a long period of 
years; and 
Whereas, In the staff of the United States 
Bureau of Fisheries, and in the trained experts 
of the State Bureaus, Commissions and Hatch¬ 
eries, the country is possessed of a body of high¬ 
ly trained men devoted to the needs of the na¬ 
tion as a whole and qualified to speak on special 
problems of fisheries in the war with the knowl¬ 
edge and experience that will guard against the 
evident danger of hasty action; and 
Whereas. Proposals have been made to sus¬ 
pend or revoke laws for the regulation of fish¬ 
eries which have grown out of long experience 
and careful study of conditions regarding the 
habits, growth and multiplication of fish on the 
-one hand, and the practical conditions of the 
fishing industries on the other hand; and 
Whereas, The shad, striped bass, and other 
anadromous species have decreased in some 
rivers almost to the point of extinction, because 
of fishing devices operated in the salt and brack¬ 
ish waters through which they must pass to 
reach tl’eir natural spawning grounds in fresh 
water; and 
Whereas. Artificial propagation of these 
species is impossible and natural reproduction 
is prevented unless a reasonable supply of such 
fishes is allowed to reach their natural spawning- 
grounds in fresh waters; 
Therefore, Be It Resolved. That the expres¬ 
sion “letting down the bars” as applied to the 
fishery resources of the country is unfortunate; 
national welfare demands the greatest develop¬ 
ment of the said fisheries, including fish culture 
and the artificial propagation of food fishes to the 
highest possible point of efficiency; 
That commercialization of the so-called game 
fishes is not conducive to their proper conserva¬ 
tion but would tend to destroy a limited but 
valuable food product—the annual catch under 
present restrictive laws, aided by artificial pro¬ 
pagation, being barely sufficient to maintain a 
reasonable annual supply; 
That the taking of non-game food fishes, under 
proper supervision, be encouraged in every legiti¬ 
mate manner consistent with the preservation of 
a sufficient breeding stock to insure a future 
normal crop, (in states where required neces¬ 
sary legislation to this end should be enacted); 
That many waters in which the so-called game 
fishes predominate contain also rough fish such 
as carp, suckers, bowfin, gars, etc., and in such 
waters the removal of these non-game fishes will 
be beneficial to angling, and a limited amount 
of commercial fishing, under proper regulation, 
should be encouraged; 
That the anadromous fishes should be per¬ 
mitted to ascend the rivers from the ocean in 
sufficient numbers to maintain a constant and 
normal supply, and that to this extent the com¬ 
mercial fishing should be subject to proper 
regulations; and 
Be It Resolved, That a solution of this problem 
relating to the alarming decrease of these species 
rests in the Federal control of all anadromous 
fishes; and 
Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of these 
resolutions be forwarded to the Bureau of 
Fisheries, the United States Food Administra¬ 
tion, and the fisheries authorities of the various 
states. 
JOHN W. TITCOMB. 
Albany, New York. 
H. B. WARD, 
Urbana, Illinois. 
CHARLES O. HAYFORD. 
Hackettstown, New Jersey. 
C. H. TOWNSEND. 
New York. New York. 
HENRY O’MALLEY, 
Washington. D. C. 
COMMITTEE. 
Mahnomen County Organizes —An association 
was recently formed in Mahnomen county for 
the protection and preservation of game. A 
meeting was held at which the moving pictures 
of the Game and Fish Department were shown. 
Game Warden Wm. F. Munch of Crookston as¬ 
sisted in the organization of the club which will 
be officered by Joseph J. Unless, president and 
Henry Harty, secretary and treasurer. Each mem¬ 
ber signs the following pledge: “We the under¬ 
signed, having the welfare of the game and fish 
of the state at heart, do hereby organize the 
Mahnomen County Game and Fish Protective 
Association. We promise to obey the game and 
fish laws r r the state and see to it that all others 
do the same, and to do everything in our power 
to help the Game and Fish Department to get 
evidence and enforce the laws.” The entire 
county will be canvassed for members. There 
should be at least one such organization in every 
county—better in every community—so that pub¬ 
lic sentiment favorable to game protection might 
be fostered, and the value of game and fish be 
better understood. Law breakers become very 
unpopular where there is a live organization. 
