The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-05-15
Fish Culture Is q Branch Of Farming.
BY WILLIAM F. @. SHANKS.

BY WILLIAM F. G. SHANKS.
There assembled in New York City, on
December Goth 1868, convention of pisci-
culturists, or fish-farmers, composed of the
Fish Commissioners of the New England
and Middle States, and numerous private
gentlemen who have devoted time and at
tention to the cultivation of fish and their
eggs for sale. The object of the conven-
ton was to arrange uniform plan of OPP
erations, in order that the work of restock-
ing the various rivers which flow through
the several States might harmoniously pro-
coed.
The legislation necessary to the accom-
plishment of the work in the several New
England States is now in accord; that of
Middle States has been confined solely to
the appointment Of commissioners to in
quire into the feasibility of the work con-
templated. The actual work done in the
New England States is also greatly in ad-
vance Of that accomplished in the Middle
States. Destructive fishing with seines
weirs, ETC., at the mouths of rivers, has
been entirely prohibited, and all other kind
of fishing regulated by law. Appropria-
tions have been made for building fishways
or ladders, by which the natural falls and
artificial dams in the rivers may be over
come by the fish who desire to ascend to
their natural spawning-bed in the upper
and shallow waters of the streams. In
81,
completed, and the rivers have been large
ly stocked. One gentleman, Mr.. Seth
Green of Mumford, N. Y, in his zeal in
the work, deposited in the spawning beds
of the Connecticut 100000 of young
shad in single week last summer. IN the
same way, but not on solarge scale, several
other New England streams have been sup
piled with young shad and salmon. These
will go to sea, grow fat, and come back by
the help of the fish-ladders, which are like
stairways, and which the fish rapidly ascend
by jumping from step to step and 60 to
their spawning-beds to lay their eggs, and
thus increase the supply of the stream.
PLAN PROPOSED.
IL ID uoW pIOpooCu W CAUCuu LlC btsIuC
system of improvement to the waters ofthe
Middle, and eventually to those of all the
States, so as to make the fishing laws and
facilities hanmonize, and thus restore the
island fisheries of America to their original
prosperity. The scheme, though new to
this country, is not an untried experiment.
The rivers of France were almost entirely
exhausted of fish when Louis Napoleon be-
came President in 184S; since then, through
the use of the means which are being adopt
ed in this country, the fisheries of France
have been completely restored-in fact, are
richer than they were ever known to be be-
fore. Canada used to import fish from
this country; she restored her rivers by the
French system, while we went on exhaust
ing ours by everlasting and by obstructing
and deiling the streams; and we are now,
in turn, importing our finest fish from
Canada, and paying her fifty cents pound
for the very articles we used to sell her at
one fifth that price. 1t is proposed to REM
edy this by restocking our rivers-each
State becoming its own fish-farmer.
Some of the towns and villages of New
England are also contemplating the same
thing on smaller scale. One of the acts
of the Massachusetts, Legislature, passed
in furtherance of the work of restoring her
fisheries, empowers the authorities of every
city, town, and village in the State to Or
ganize cooperative company, with a capt.
tai stock of not less than $1,000 nor more
than $5OO0 for the purpose of building
ponds within each corporation limit, to be
connected with the nearest river or creek
in such way as to entice the fish to enter
them for the purpose of spawning. The
citizens are prohibited from fishing the
ponds or streams beyond their recuperative
power. 1t has been found that the best
way to entice fish to any particular locality
is to secure the eggs and hatch them in the
spot in which they are wanted; for when
the fish are born, 60 to sea, get fat, and re-
turn in schools to the inland rivers to
spawn, they lay their eggs-such is the
force of nature-in the very spot in which
they were themselves Matched. This law
authorizes the officers of each town in Mas
sachusetts to build pond and attach to it
a Matching house; in which tens of thou
sands of trout, hundreds of thousands of
salmon, and millions upon millions of shad
may be Matched annually until the crop
would supply the whole population at
cost too insignificant to mention. On the
same plan, every village in the country
may become it's own ffsh-farmer
Hearth and Home.