The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-02-11
FOOD.FISHES IN AMERICA.
Prof. Baird's Report On the Decrease OF
FoOd-Eishes and Their PrOpa CATION in
the Matters of the United States.


FoOd-Fishes and Their Propa CATION in
the Waters of the United States.
The report of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, OF
the Smi i,hsonian Institution, United States
Commission of fish and fisheries, Just is
sued from the Government printing-0tiice,
at Washington. treats first of the decrease
OF the food-fshes; and second, of the prop
agatiOn of food-tishes in the waters of the
United States. The report embraces 1he
result of the labors of the Commission and
those co operating with it for 1928
Briefly stated. the conclusions reached
are that the Goldfish has disappeared pro-
pOrtionately with the disappearance of the
alewives, its principal food, the shad, and
the salmon, which formerly filled the
channels of the larger rivers flowing into
the sea on that coast, struggling up stream
TO deposit their spawn, and trequenting
waters adjacent to these rivers throughout
a great part of the year. As the Goldfish.
feeds on the fish named, formerly they
could be caught in great numbers wher-
ever their food congregated. The lumber
ing interests of Maine and the MANUFACTURED
ing interests of Massachusetts, and New
Ii mpshire, however, have driven away
alewiyes, etc, from these rivers by reason
of the impossible dams that have been
erected across the streams. The result is
that the food of the Goldfish having been
diminished almost to determination, that
fish has been compelled to seek other
waters to find subsistence, and hence, far
more than TO exhaustive fishing with the
line, is due it's disappearance. Efforts
have been made, it is true. by the Legisla-
ture of the New England States TO save the
fisheries of those States by the enactment
of laws requiring the construction of fish
ways through the dams; but as these en-
actments interfere with the numbering and
manufacturing interests they appear to
have been neglected. These laws
have been passed mainly to ena-
BILE the salmon to enter the streams
in order to permit their capture on the
way. But Prof. Baird thinks this result
but psOr compensation for the loss of the
cod-fishes. Whatever may be the i'm
portance, he says = of increasing the sup
ply OF salmon, it is trifiing compared with
the restoration of our exhausted Goldfish
cries and should these be brought back
to their original condition, we should find
within short time an increase of wealth
on our shores, the amount of which it
would be difficult to calculate" Com
merce and ship-suilding would prosper in
equal proportion, the prosperity of the adj
jacent States would be enhanced, and the
country would gain in the number of its
citizens familiar with the sea.
During 1871 and 1872 the waters of the
great lakes were also investigated. The As
,istant Commissioner charged with this
duty was instructed 10 make the white-tish,
the most valuable foolish of the lakes,
the principal object of attention, with a
view to its restoration. The white-fish
was found to have decreased largely in
Lake Michigan, but in Lake Superior the
diminution was much less. Seventy one
stations, embracing nearly the entire num-
Der of fisheries, were visited OH Lake
Michigan. and evidences of its decrease
and its causes were noted. In the autumn
of 1872 nearly million of white-fish eggs
were obtained and were placed in hatch
ing house at Charleston, Mich. OF these a
large number was forwarded in the winter
to California for the waters of Clear Lake.
At the same time arrangements were made
for the Matching of salmon for the waters
of Michi an and Wisconsin. In 1873 the
waters of Lakes Huron and Erie and of the
Ohio River were visited.
Action in regard TO the propagation of
fOOd-iishes in the waters of the United
States was first taken by Congress on June
10, 1872, when $4,000 was appropriated.
at the SuggeS ion of the American Fish
Culturi~ts' Association, which had held its
meeting in Albany on Feb. !. for the pur-
pose of enabling the United States TO take
part in the great undertaking of intro
ducing or multiplying shad, salmon, and
other valuable fOOd-fishes throughout the
country.
In 1872 large numbers of shad eggs We're
introduced into the Hudson River, Oneida
Lake, Lake Champlain, the Gencsee
River, and the Mississippi River, few
miles above ST. Paul, Mimi. Z At later
period the CuyahOga the White River at
Indian polls, and the Platte River were
also supplied with young shad. During
the year, under the direction of MIR. Seth
Green. nearly 100000 shad were released
in he waters of the State of New York,
while 92,065, 900 young fish were turned
into the waters of the Connecticut. The
report says that whether shad can live
permanently in fresh water and maintain
those characteristics of flavor and size
which give them such a prominence, and
whether thev can b. established in the
Mississippi Valley, are problems not yet
solved.
In the propagation of Maine salmon at
BuckspOrt, on the PenObscot River, IL
1872, about / l,5G0,000 eggs were secured.
I L
Matching houses in different parts of the
country, in order there to be fully devel-
oped. At an outlay of about $4,000, Prof.
Baird also imported 100000 eggs of the
Rhine salmon from Germany, but, owing
10 variety of causes. only 5000 of the
number reached New Y York in safety. The
Others had been prematurely hatched, or
otherwise DESTROYED. The 5000 were sue
cessfully hatched out. and were ultimately
introduced into the MuscOnetcOng River.
a tributary Ofthe Deleware. The SuSque-
hannah River at Harrisburg was stocked
with 5000 or 6.000 young California sal
mon, the eggs having been brought from
McClOud River, a stream of the Sierra Ne
vada. in that State, and afterwards
hatChed at the hatching-hoRse at Blooms
bury, NJ Clear Lake, Californi', was
supplied during the year with 100000
young white-Eait fish, Matched from eggs
taken from the Detroit River.
The plan proposed by Prof. Baird in
1873 for the propagation of shad was TO
hatch out the fish In the rivers of the At
lantic coast, and to transfer a suitable pOr
ton of them to Western waters, beginning
in the South, and conducting operations
farther and farther towards the North as
the season advanced. On investigation,
however, IL was 1Ound Ihat owing 10 the
scarcity of that fish in the rivers below the
NeuSe, in North Carolina, not enough
spawning-shad could be obtained to make
the experiment worth the cost. In like
manner, failure was experienced in the at
tempt to obtain eggs from the Neuse and
the Roanoake Rivers, owing to high water
in those streams. In the Potomac at
| Washington, however, success attended
the experiment, and from the young fish
thus collected the headwaters of the Ka-
nawha River were supplied, and a supply
was also furnished for the Michigan Com
missiOners. Up to the end of July several
thousand were placed in the Delaware, the
MonOngahela, and the Juniata Rivers.
Through the agency of the New Y TX
! Commissioners, and entirely at the ex-
pense of the State of New York, the Uni
ted States received such spawn as were re-
quired for its purposes, and young shad
were transferred from the hatching-statiOn
at Castleton-on-the-Hu Hudson to various
points in the West. The disastrous at
tempt to transfer valuable food-fishes from
the Atlantic slope TO the Pacific slope in
the so-called aquarium m-car-which fell
| in transit from the trestle-wOrk in
TO the Elkhorn River. of Nebraska,