Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-06-17
COMMUNICATED.
The Potomac Fisheries.


In the Gazette of June 1lth there is com-
munication signed "Gller.
The subject is tba Potomac fisheries. A com
parison is instituted between hauling SCENES,
and pill nets, to the prejudice of the former
The Judgment of the reader is not SO much
appealed to, but the baser impulses OF the hui
mar heart are invoked.
The author at the close of bis article asks Tor
"facts," reason" and "a plain statement OF
the matter" This idea seems only to have
occurred to him alter he had finished. The
EXPRESSIONS, rich hauler'' and 'poor man,
would indicate "a cat 10 the meal tub, and
cast suspicion upon the sincerity OF the writer.
Such tasteful and elegant language, SO appro
nriate to lair discussion, cannot tail to arrest
the attention of the least wary
The true friend Of the ''roor man IS ne
who so regulates the fisheries as to reduce the
nrice of fish, whether caught by the 'rch
bauler" or tile poor man, ''-gller aud poor
man, according 70 the author, oelng convertl-
BILE terms, let the fact be ever so different
Assertion Is not argument, assumption not
proof, nor can speculation throw hight upon
practical question, whether 1t comes from " III
lrr'' or "Hauler." As reason for the failure
NJ tho fisheries this past season, 1t l5snrged
that the fish took another route, and went to
the head oil the bay-grant il. May u not oe
inferred that they were compelled to Go 50, be-
cause their passage through NanjemoJ Ecacn
was greatly ohstruc.cd by the Vc!lapping shau
and herring Gill nets, fishing from top to bot
tom, herring gill nets baing complete barrier
~ tho cytcnt of their length, breadth and
depth.
81 than the ass 'rtion of "GIIler, that ioF
every fish with the mark OF the xii net upon
IT," there are millions killed by hauling sclne'
before large enough-ior use.
How does "Gier' know that the i've sue
cessfu scines Of this last season were hauled
over ''tLc principal spawning ground OF the
| fish ?" =,
| From what knowledge Of the peculiar habits
Of the fish does he % boldly and rcck!css!y as
sert. that they spawn only where they or. SUD
cessiug caught, or that they are sue: ':u,Iy
caught only where they spawn? Gave Us the
"facts" and "the reason. Has he made 4
submarine exploration? or does he be- t''t
question by interring it from the tact that the
fish were caught ut those shores? Suppose me
souudness OF this mode OF reasoning D. c)Ec;
ded, it is the history Of the Potomac noherlG3
that the successful shores OF one year often l"'i
| the next The sequence OF "iilcr , ar:Um"ut
wou,d be, then, that the fish change their
snawnioc ground yearly, AMI that ~ i suec;S
sion OF wears they will have spawned! over the
whole bottom OF the river. Following this Io:''
cal deduction We agree. Again, OUT "l al the
shores fshed only five were successful, there
fors the balance OF the rich hau'eIS must '''
very poor men,, and should be 'n'lt'rd I"
the sympathy OF "Gillcr,
Il is not tair to make fish y! Que anl u'si I'll
another, ard the rights Of the .'pohr hru,r
must have some existence ANA DC catlttiGd "a
| 1,,,, tt,nI h.. In A
seines destroy all the spawn it touc:'rs - not
WG,llcr'' aware that q very Snli! por;i3n I'll
the area oil the liver bottom Is Touched ny these
seine? There are but twenty three vi hoc
G,hcd upon the entire river, yet III" icnLtA AZ!
: breadth of the river is swept by countess III
nets. hcarily 2culed for the purpose o. .fiSh'H4
the bottom.
But it is emphatic2y denied TINT tie lIs!
deposlt their spawn il such quantities. III ih'
, berths of the regularly hauled fishing shores.
6 Their bottoms arc necessarily KEEP; ceI: I"
sticks, grass and stones, and ob-er't'ion IA;
shown that the spawn is generally dcpo>!ic
upop such Objects Often has il heen "uHt
uDon an anchor that has ha'n 1T the '"f'":'
but few hours. -. 80. e,,.,.. nothing
but what is large enough Tor mlIkc'. IL siI"u!
J have said nothing but shad and herring; and
| herein lies the dlSructiucnasI Of his wars: he
: destroys nothing but marSeiah'c fish walls, th%
hauling seine destroys immcn*" Gn'nI,Ie- ii
cat ii ii and ccis that follow the s!in'i and EcI-
ring to Iced upon their spawn, aul these arc
the fish that "GiIIcr" says are hauled away lol
manure, as the small rock and perch arc c)u
sumed by the poor man, OF the adj 1iuiog
country without price. The writer h.. Seen
seven thousand cat E,h measured uu' ct onc
haul each having ia his nav from xii to a
half plot of spawn. the hauling seine clnnot
he said to destroy the ''giI!ers' business be.
cause when there were nothing bnt hauling
seues fish were in abundance and within the
reach OF every'poor man. 10 be conc ui.d. |
| HhCLER.