The Hawaiian gazette., 1876-11-01
Pi>cicuiturc.

Pi>cicuiturc.
ANoNs the unievelopei resources Of th;s
Kingdom. che which shoald not be neglected.
as 1t might. with encouragement, he made TO
rsak among the most Important, is 'he aaiiz-
ing Of the fish which, in vast variety, swarm
IN The ocean which surrounds Us, The waters
of our co1sts, hays, esJuaries, lapoous and
channels are literally teeminE with p;scatcrisl
life, msuy forms Of which are taken all the
year round, while others appear only NJ inter
walls. bur with such regularity. that the Ha-
waiiaus. who in former times wore famous
fisherman, used 20 know almost TO a day when
the fish pcerljar 10 the season would arrive.
Tie artificial propagation of fish has Of late
wears developed IN the United States into a
large ana constantly increasing industry.
Alarmed ly tile rapid diminuiion Of the fnny
inhabitants Of the streams and rivers, many Of
lhe State Governments have, one after another
appointed commissions, to whom were en-
trusted the business Of stocking the various
bodies Of water with the more valuable varie-
ties Of iish. and Of seeing that the fish were
allowed fair chance by the construction Of
ladders over all dams in the streams. the pro
hilitioa Of taking fish durinc certain seasons.
the preveuticno Of the throwing Of sawiust and
other refuse iuinical to fish into the rivers,
and the enforcement Of all laws IN the interes;
Of piscicul;ure. These commissions have
done great and good work. Putting into
practise the knowledge gained by scientific
men who have devoted their attention 10 the
habits Of fish, they have filled many Of the
rivers and lakes Of tile United States with
salmon. trout. shad, white fish and other kinds
which formerly ab1uuded, but which through
tine rapacity and short sishiedaess Of man had
been nearly or quite externinatei. Establish
ueuis for the Matching Of ova are maintained
in various parts of the country, the largest Of
which. ana indeed the largest in the world. Is
that belonging to the United States Govern
ment On the NcClcui river. in Shasta county.
California, under the care Of Mr.. Livingstone
Stone. At this place fr7m SIX TO ten million
Of young salmon are Matched each year, and
sent 70 all parts Of the country. 1t has been
ascer;ainei that, while in Nature bur one
salmon egg in a hundred is Matched, by the
careful and systematic methods Of the artificial
process at least ninety-fve per cent Of the
young salmon are brought into existence. and
the expense Of this artificial Matching is very
small, amounting TO but one dollar per thous-
and.
We have recently mentioned the fact that
the experiment is now being tried of intrOduc-
ing that most delicious Of fish. the salmon. to
this country. The eggs belong to the variety
known as the Sacramento Salmon (Sl'a3 guil-
ul.) which comes into rivers to spawn in lati-
tu3es much lower, and in waters much warmer
than any other variety yet known, and it Is on
account Of this pecuIiarity especially adapted
for our climate. We have great faith that we
shall vet see our streams abouuiing with this
fish. which, both for furnishing unriyaled
spor., and an invaluable article Of food. has
no equal. This first experiment may fail, but
the enterprise should rot on that account he /
abandoned The English, year after year,
shipped impreguated salmon eggs to Austria
liza. where the eggs were successfully hatched,
and the young fsh in due time went to the
ocean, but for years none were found to return.
They were supposed TO have beenan destroyed
by the bonita. But after repeated experiments
some escaped and In 1867 large fish returned
from the ocean were takeni in the river. There
IS probably no part Of the country where it
would do rs well rs in tile deep. cool streams
Of Kauai. The waters Of the WaiIua or Hama
lei rivers average much lower temperature
than those of the san joaquin river which
show range Of from y 20 si7 Fahren-
heit for the whole year. The water of those
streams Is clear, and lows over beds Of clear
gravel such as are requisite to the fish for
spawning purposes, and there appears to be no .
reason why the salmon should not do well
there. Trout can probably never be success
fully introduced as 1t requires cooler water
than can be found IN our streams, except per
laps in the most elevated regions.
The artificial rearing of fish in both fresh
and sea water has been practised in this coun-
.ry from the earliest times, and fish ponds are .
At the present time very valuable kind of
property, bgt the natives have never practised /
he artificial Matching and breeding Of fish. but
nave always stocked their ponds with the .
rouug fry which have just escaped from the .
agg. Fish ought 70 be much cheaper than it 4
IS IN this country. 1t is a valuable article Of /
food, and the expense Of raising in when done
BY artificial methods IS very small, as the area
r,r-,;s.7 I,- r,-,7z = .-.-,r-,TI,- T., r
'eing utilized in any other manner, and the fish
.c9uire no food beyond dat furnished by the
Element they inhabit.