The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-06-24
slar ana Catholic Messenger.
anw uRLxANs. SUNDAY. JUNE "a 1917.
THE PROPAGATION or FOOD FISHES IN
THE UNITED STATES
ITS GREAT AND GROWING IMPORTANCE TO
OUR PEOPLE.

sive and, on the whole, euccossfui attempt
have been making during the past three o
four > ears to restock our rivers ana iake
with fish. 1t Is worth while to sum VI
what has been accomp shed in this diTec
ton, and to that end We avail oureeIve
of an able and exhaustive report latel.
published by rbe Commissioners Of Fish
cries.
The importance of securing from Ou
waters their fullest extent of animal fooc
is now beginning to be recognized, in view
Of our rapidly increasing population, and
the alleged Simultaneous dimin ution In the
5productisn of vegetable ailments by farm
ing lands. We find it claimed by the stu
dents of piscicultuIe that the water can &C
1 tually be made to furnish larger percent
= age of uutriment, acre for acre, than the
soil. Nor does this estimate seem exagger-
ated when We consider that China, with it's
enormous swarms of inhabitants, crowding
o larger number on the square mile than
any other part of the earth's surface, de-
rives the largest portion of it's animal food
from the interior waters of the empire.
Such q signal economical achievement is,
of course, only possible in country
where the methods of fish cultivation are
conducted in very efficient manner, and
where every cubic yard of pond and stream
10 thoroughly utilized.
We are reminded in this report that the
work of augmenting our food supply from
this source, prosecuted by the national
Government, is in no case one which
would be carried on by State comm issions
or private enterprise. Iowa and Mime
sofa, or Ohio and western Pennsylvania,
for instance, would not find profit in any
great expenditure for the purpose of re-
stocking their streams, seeing that the ma
ture fish would, on their return, enter the
mouth of the Mississippi, and traverse,all
of the intermediate States, with the GER
kosV ,fuyt hot lar rtlnTl .lf hA ofcI,
would be secured in passing. On the other
hand, the great waters of the more Southern
States do not offer the right conditions for
the preservation and growth of the yOnng
fish which require the cold, upper sources
of those rivers as their home. Further
more, the primary outlay for securing the
eggs of such species as the Californian SAL
mon or the European carp is greater than
many single States would care to meet,
while the coPt of obtaining supply for
the whole country from single establish
ment is relatively much less than the ag-
gregate cost of separate effort. This, then,
seems to be a proper case for the interven-
tion of the national Government, and we
are happy to say that it's operations in this
instance have been conducted with skill
and fidelity.
As regards the propagation of shad, the
most plentiful and popular of our native
tiehee, the plan is TO establish Matching
camps in March along the southernmost
streams on the Atlantic coast, there to
hatch all the eggs procurable, and, leaving
q portion of the young fish in the breeding
stream, to transmit the remainder to other
waters, now entirely unprovided. This
operation il continued by removing the
camps northward ns the season advances,
until, toward the end of June, the Connec-
ticut river is reached. from which nursery
the region of the great lakes, the upper
khA 40 or 10
ed. In reviewing the labors of the last
year, covered by the report, We may re
mark that the entire number of shad
hatched ont was 12, SOC, 600. On this occa-
sion, preference was given in the distribn-
Sion to the Mississippi waters and the
rivers of the Atlantic aud Gulf slopes, the
only shipments to the tributaries of the
lnkes being to those of Lake Champl
It appears that the Californian salmon
unlike the Maine species, which, however
has a superior flavor, can Withstand the
warmeat climates known in the United
States, and is extremely prolific and hardy
thriving in the most turbid waters. Fol
. this reason its multiplication mas been
made q special object of the commission
Some idea Of the scale on which the propa
CATION of this fish has been conducted ma.
be formed from the fact that the eggs col
lscted during the season OF 1879, at TIT
United States establishments on the uppe
Sacramento, numbered about ll,oUu,oUO
having 8 bulk of eighty bushels, ant
weighing when packed for transportation
ten tons.
Another fab to whose introduction tn
commission proposes to devote considera
BILE effort is the European carp. Their
are, unquestionably, varieties OF this fs
which possess superior table qualities, an
the notion entertained by many that tn
carp ia an inferior article of food mus
have been derived from persons who h9!
been unfortunate in their experience. /
has, too, other characteristics which rem
der it especially desirable to- s, and which
are not known to be possessed by an!
American species. Among these may b
mentioned it's surprising fecundity, and 1t
adaptability to the moot diverse waters
from deep cool lakes and rapid streams t.
the merest puddleB and ditches-Rs we'll a
TO all latitudes, from St. Petersburg T.
southern Italy. 1t 10 also we'll worth not
I ing that the carp unlike the greater mum
Der of American food fishes, can be sustain
ed on vegetable matter, being PARTICULAR!
fond of water cresses and similar succulen
II hoe aOmakimeA bean fed durinI