Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-20

rcd prince did what in them lay to mslead the
public, and should have their crimes brought
home TO them in some exemplary manner.
FISH COMMISSIONERS REPoRT.-The sixth
annual report of the commissioners of inland
fisheries gives gratifying evidence of the practi-
cal value Of this commission. II IS only within
a few wears that it has been deemed possible by
artificial culture 10 replenish our streams and
ponds. from which the various influences of an
increasing population and growing industries
have GRADUALLY driven the fish which, in the ear
" DAYS. were abundant and an important part
of the Subsistence of our ancestors. The inter-
est in the subject which has had such valuable
results, originated in the complaint of the states
of New Hampshire and Vermont that the shad
and salmon, which had once been abundant in
their streams, had been cut off by impossible
dams at Holyoke on the Connecticut and at
Lawrence on the Merrimack Commissioners
appointed by order of our legislature reported
in 1865, giving the history of the decline and
partial destruction Of the river fisheries, and con-
Gliding with the opinion that, if fish-ways were
built over the dams, the pollution of the water
prevented, if Connecticut would forbid the use
of weirs and gill nets, and stringent
laws regulating fisheries should be passed
by the states concerned, an abundant supply
of fislf might be looked for within five years,
though they might not be so plenty as when
the country was in its primitive state. The
legislature thought an attempt ought TO be
made to restore the shad and salmon to the up
per waters of the two great rivers, and perma-
nent board of fish commissioners was esta blish-
ed, with the duty, among others, OF causing
ish-ways to be built at Holyoke and Lawrence.
The company at Holyoke denied the right of the
legislature to impose on them the burden of
making and maintaining a hsh-way, and law
suit followed which, baving been decided by our
supreme court IN favor of the commonwealth,
is now pending before the supreme court OF the
United States. At Lawrence no legal impedi-
mentS were interposed, but the practical diff
culties were considerable, arising chiefly from
ignorance of the subject; and only after several
seasons of experiment was it determined what
kind of passage would afford all the migra-
tory fish the needed facilities for their annual
journey up stream.
During the past six years the subject has at
'''c'eu Se'ei"i iu'eies'' fis" culture has oe-
co'ie ~ Sollie eA'eu' 'oS'ii@eu "ian'h vi III,
uust'y' Commissioners hafe UGH appolu'eu
lor AL the ne" Ehsianu STATES anu lor Nc"
lorh' NC" 'e'seF' eh"sy i'an'" "uu flt%inid'
anu lns'e"u Vi eonn"l"4 tueii "''eu'lon 10 sl"u
anu s'i'loll on'S' ii"'e oeei o"'ieu u eonsiuer
tne PusS'oi's VI increasing inc supply Oh va
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