Mr. Sperry’s Report. 
[In the report of the convention and tourna¬ 
ment of the National Association of Angling 
Clubs, printed in Forest and Stream last week, 
reference was made to the report of E. P. 
Sperry, chairman of the National Committee on 
Protection and Propagation of Game Fishes, 
etc., which was read at the annual convention, 
held at Chicago, and heartily indorsed. Mr. 
Sperry's paper follows. —Editor.] 
Although your committee is in its very early 
infancy, it being but two months old, and al¬ 
though there has hardly been time for any ex¬ 
tended correspondence between the chairman 
and members of the committee on account of 
their being located all the way from the Atlan¬ 
tic to the Pacific oceans, still enough has been 
gleaned and reduced to form to even now cause 
your committee to wonder how so great a work 
as that which lies before it can be accomplished: 
but as great things are always the result of 
small beginnings and are a combination of small 
efforts, and as discouragement never accom¬ 
plished anything, your committee feels sure that, 
with constant and unremitting effort and the 
hearty co-operation and backing of the great 
influential body of anglers which forms the asso¬ 
ciation which the committee represents, it, in 
time, and it may be three or four or even more 
years, can do a great deal toward staying the 
tide of devastation and destruction and educate 
the public mind to a higher ideal of what is a 
proper use of one of the greatest blessings given 
to mankind by a gracious God. 
It was on June 16 last that the names of the 
chairman and members of your committee were 
announced, and it was done by the means of 
a most straightforward and clearly defined letter 
sent to each one by our hard-working and con¬ 
scientious president. 
The work of organization was at once taken 
up and a letter sent on June 25 to the members 
of the committee by its chairman, asking each 
to give his ideas of the first steps to be taken 
and also suggestions of subjects which to him 
seemed important for the committee to consider. 
The replies were, in the most part, prompt 
and full of eager desire to push the work with 
all possible dispatch and expressing willingness 
to do all they could to assist in this great move¬ 
ment in the right direction. 
After combining the ideas of all the commit¬ 
tee it was shown that the whole question clust¬ 
ered around one great fundamental point—that 
of more reasonable laws in the States where 
there are fish laws and reasonable laws in those 
States where there are no fish laws, and a strict 
carrying out of these laws without fear or favor. 
The question was taken up under the following 
heads: 
1. Pollution of waters. 
2. Closed seasons. 
3. Sale of game fishes in the market. 
4. Wholesale slaughter of game fishes. 
5. Size limit on game fishes. 
6. Angler’s license. 
7. Sale of unsportsmanlike bait. 
8. Night fishing. 
9. Number of fishes allowed in one day. 
10. Fishing near fishways. 
11. Shipping game fishes from State to State. 
12. Federal laws to govern points of equal 
interest to all States. 
This list will give an idea of the magnitude 
of the work as seen by your committee, and of 
the time it will take to bring about any results 
and the patience and “bulldog” tenacity which 
must be, with diplomacy, exhibited by your com¬ 
mittee and its successors. 
Before taking up the different heads, some 
very interesting information might be here in¬ 
serted. 
On June 29 the chairman received a very in¬ 
teresting letter from Mr. C. id. Townsend, 
Director of the New York Aquarium, Battery 
Park, and formerly Chief of the Fisheries Divis¬ 
ion, United States Fish Commission, which was 
as follows: 
New York, June 27, 1908. 
Mr. E. P. Sperry, Chairman, 1207 Monadnock Block, 
Chicago, 111.: 
Dear Sir—According to Forest and Stream you are 
chairman of a co-mmiitee of the National Association 
on the protection and preservation of angling waters. 
1 take the liberty of sending you by th.s mail a paper 
of mine in which it is c.aimed that the prevention of 
the pollution of angling waters is the mod tmpor.ant 
work that angling clubs can undertake at the present 
time. 
Pish cultural work by State and nation is already 
enormous, and the fish protection service—by fish war¬ 
dens—is well esiablished in many States. If angling 
clubs can get together now and fight stream pollution 
before it gets worse, we can do great good. 
if you think your committee would be interested in 
taking up this field of work, I will take pleasure in 
mailing copies of this pamphlet to the members upon 
receipt of their names and addresses. 
\ ery truly yours, 
C. H. Townsend. 
1 he chairman at once answered Mr. Town 
send's letter thanking him for his kindness and 
interest, and sending him a list of the members 
and their addresses. 
On July 3 the chairman wrote to the fish com¬ 
missioners of the States of California, Illinois, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michi¬ 
gan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New 
York, Ohio and Wisconsin, asking for a copy 
of their latest fish laws and any other informa¬ 
tion which would assist the committee in its 
work. 
Word was received from all but two (Mis¬ 
souri and Indiana) and in some cases, especially 
California and Minnesota, letters were received 
assuring their support, as far as possible, and 
urging the committee to exert its best efforts 
in the commendable work before it. 
On July 6 the chairman wrote practically the 
same letter to the United States Fish Commis¬ 
sioner and on July io received a very nice letter, 
indeed, wishing the committee all success in its 
laudable undertakings. 
In the same mail the chairman received an 
other letter from the Commissioner, which is 
as follows: 
Washington, July 8, 1908. 
Mr. E. P. Sperry, Chairman, 1207 Monadnock Block, 
Chicago, Ill.: 
Dear Sir—Permit me, through you, to direct the at¬ 
tention of the National Association of Scientific Angling 
Clubs to the International Fishery Congress which 
meets in Y\ ashington in September, and to suggest that 
the deliberations of this congress should appeal to your 
association and induce you to be represented by one 
oi more delegates. * * * A circular explaining the 
purposes and outlining the work of the congress is sent 
herewith. Will you kindly let me hear from you in 
regard to this matter? 
Respectfully, 
H. M. Smith, Secretary-General. 
I his invitation, if accepted by this conven¬ 
tion, would be of the utmost importance in the 
work before this committee, and the reading of 
it at this time is intended to carry with it a 
request that action be taken upon it by your 
honorable body. 
1 he above goes to show this convention to 
what an extent and with what interest the birth 
and launching into action of this committee is 
being watched by the great body of those vitally 
interested in this work. It shows what a 
momentous step this association has taken and 
that we cannot recede from the high stand wc 
have taken nor for one moment flag in our 
efforts toward finally planting our righteous 
standard on the high hill of success and "hav 
ing done all, stand!” 
Let us briefly take up the different heads as 
referred to above and in a cursory manner com 
ment upon them and the relation they bear to 
the subject in hand, but before doing so let us 
say that the fish laws of the States of Califor¬ 
nia, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New 
Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin have 
been studied and a tabulated summary of the 
laws bearing upon the several points has been 
made, and the comments under the different 
heads will be, to a great extent, based upon this 
summary. 
ist. Pollution of waters. 
Out of the nine States there are but five which 
have any clause referring to this most deadly 
foe to the game fishes, and, in fact, any living- 
form inhabiting the waters. This condition 
seems to be so entirely devoid of excuse, and 
except for the personal, selfish greed of the 
owners of sawmills, factories, smelters and 
other plants of industries which thus deal our 
death and destruction, it would not be. Even 
then they are so short sighted that they can¬ 
not see wherein they are losing money by so 
doing, as it is an undeniable truth that with but 
very few exceptions this same refuse is capable 
of Tieing turned into by-products worth much 
more than the cost of producing. It is very 
evident that this is one of the first questions 
the committee should devote its energies upon. 
2d. Closed seasons. 
In the summary we find a most remarkable 
diversity of opinion, and in some cases it seems 
as though the closed season is made with the 
idea of ending it at just the critical time, where¬ 
as if it were held closed for a few more weeks 
or even days it would be of much more benefit 
