The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-06-07
About Fishing and Fishes.

About Fishing ana riSAes.
Tho snriny fisheries tor shad and herring
IN this latitude have closed not Win eNtfao'
dinary success. We have seen only ie"
,enk and deformed shad on the fish.tabies the
nast week, and they tell the sad s'oss VI
Che discontinuauce Of the run Of respec'ao'e
shad Ia this latitude for the season.
We do not appreciate properly this noo'e
fish. He figures conspicuously IN tue pfo''
I7ontial arrangements for the subsistence OF
$50 HI comes into our waters at period |
when he is most wanted to supply the inter-
mediate season between the winters stores
and the products of spring and summer. He
comes In such numbers that he loads our Ia
s,es with abundance of the very best and the
most healthy food for the season. 10 james
river he is found in such quantities that
neople get tired of him, and be falls in price
In this city to twenty FIVE cents pair for hne
fish. Beginning. at dollar and bali pair,
the price comes down so that in m!d.season
the very best fish can be bought for forty
cents and half a dollar psir-about four to
five cents per pound-and the supply Is thus
abundant here after sending large supplies to
the northern markets. What blessing that
is to the poor. Nor can the rich procure
better food than the large, fat shad at that
time.
Now, we cannot too highly prize this
great gift Of Providence. Here we are espe-
ciaiiy favored both by its abundance and It's
quality. The large bright shad that are
caught in the falls at this city are the very
finest of that family Of fish that are caught
anywhere, We have conversed with men
who have travelled around the globe and
we're connoisseurs of fish, and they have con-
firmed this opinion in the most positive man
ner.
In neither the northern rivers nor In those
south of Virginia are such foe fish caught.
Take one Of those fish, wrap him in paper,
and roast him in the ashes, and no food OF flesh
or fish is 80 delicious as it is. What priva-
ton it Is that the dams in the river have Kept
this grand fish from people that live on the
upper james river? Nay, this priVation ex-
ists on all the rivers above falls where dams
are built for the sake of the water-power.
True, the fish can be transported toleraoly
quick now. But what is it compared 10 the
fish fresh taken from the river9
We remember when sbad were taken at
many places to which they cannot now as
ceud. The finest shad could be at one time
taken IN Bath county, in Jackson'sriver. They
cannot now get over the dam just above this
city. 1t would be great blessing to large
Dopulation if fsh-ladders were built at all
the dams so that the fish could ascend TO the
head waters of our rivers. The amount OF
benefit that would thus be secured to the
people would be cheapy purchased by the
cost of the ladders.
If we but think soberly of the great bene.
fit Providence conferS upon the human fam
ily in the fish sent US we cannot but feel an
increased interest in the subject of fish cul-
ture, which is now engaging the attention of
80 many States. We cannot but hope that
as Virginia has made a beginning she will
soon increase her appropriations and ex-
pand her measures so as TO include all kinds
Of fish suited to our latitude, and all the
streams of the State, bays. rivers, and creeks.
Fish as food are Invaluable to society.
The amount of subsistence afforded to
man by the wa, ers is amazing. We could
ut once appreciate il were the supply Of food
from that source cut off. The statesman is
most laudably occupied when he is studying
the ways and means Of stocking our streams
with fish. The State can spend money in no
better way.
Take Richmond for example. Oysters and
terrapins comprise large part Of the win
ter's food. Spring brings on the schools Of
running fish in the rivers. and shoals Of salt
water fish hover about the coast to swell the
supply. The strain of subsistence upon the
land is made light, and men are supplied
with variety the benefit and comfort Of
which they but TOO lightly estimate, since ii
is so readily enjoyed.
The run OF shad and herring is r. ilforced
by the sturgeon, which was, in times bygone,
called the king fish. He affords the finest
food, and runs freely some time after the
shad has gone. His flesh is substantial and
delicious. 1t keeps better than that of any
other fish, and furnishes the housewife with
the very best means Of setting out fine
table. There Is no salad that is made that is
SO good as sturgeon salad made by capable
hands.
When We consider this interesting subject
we feel that there is a culpable indifference
towards it tn the public mind. 1t grows
more and none important as the population
increases, and it has already become 3 matter
of urgent consideration that the snpply Of
fish should be increased, and that the traps
and seines of modern insention, anS that all
the articles for the Wholesale killing of fish
should be prohibited or checked, SO bsat the
supply Of 6sh should he IS much as possible
diffused and enjoyed by rybody. The
subject is realiy one of the very first dignity,
and the State should SO esteem it and giIe it
that position In the measures Of State policy.
The Third Tern.