Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-10-09
PROTECTING FISH.
Paper Read bv Il. O. Ssoeeaseu, Of st. Paul,
at tho Recent Chicago Meeting. L..

a Paper Read BY h. O. s,cee,sev, Of St. Pant,
~ at tho Recent Chicago Meeting. L..
[Chicago Times Oct. 81
"A plea for protecting the Mississippi River
System" was the subject Of paper read by
DIR. R. o. Sweeney, OF St. Paul. He desired
to call attention, he said. to the particular and
marked omission oflegislation in the common
wealths bordering upon the Mississippi River
and it's navigable State-dividing tributaries,
either regulating, restricting or prohibiting
wanton, abusive and exhaustive fishing He
thought that the remedy, to be effective must
emanate from the national legislature There
were, besides the resident despOilers of the
water, those who use arks or fishery boats,
which are anchored at various points along
the rivers wherever fish abound. These arks
are inhabited by amphibious people, citizens
OF nowhere In particular, and yet voters every
where in general. Sometimes as many as fir
ing fish with
TRAP AND SET NETS
OF such destructive character as literally to let
nothing escape. Their modes of procedure is
thorough and systematic. The secrecy with
which their nets are placed, and usually at
tended, gives no evidence against them to the
majority of the world Occasionally an early
or belated sportsman witnesses the haul they
make when the nets are emptied, and sees the
wantOn and wasteful destruction of small fish,
too small for market, left dead to rot and
faint both air and water on the beach. They
dlspose OF the selected spoil in supplying the
daily wants of the nearer villages and towns,
able. while thousands Of pounds of the largest
and finest fish are sent to the greater cities by
the daily trains. They often actually depopu-
late stream, or come so near to it that an
outraged neighborhood drive them off by
threats
The author thought that netting and trap
ping should be interdicted, and
ONLY FISHING WITH HOOKS AND LINES
permitted; and in case of set lines, only Ger.
tain number of hooks to a line, and no one per,
son allowed to SET, own or control more than a
limited number of lines within certain limit.
ed distance The streams within the !jurisdic
ton and control oflocal legislation can he, and
usually are, protected by such laws, but the
generous laws of the United States allow too
much liberty in this matter of fishing in the
great highway rivers. One man, If he SO de-
termines. may selfishly deprive whole commu
mites of their rights to catch and enjoy fish
simply because he can derive profit thereby
Another good and sufficient reason for pro
hibiting nets in the Mississippi is that the at
| tempts being made to introduce shad and sal
mon into the great valley system by both the
United States and state commissions sho Id
have fair and unobstructed field for the ex
pertinent, of the final success of which the
author had most sanguine hopes,
He thought that
AN EFFICIENT REMEDY
would be congressional legislation, in effect
! that all persons who catch fish as q business
| and to sell, from any public waters whatever
should pay certain sum of money as Ii.
cense for such privilege, the sum to be reg.
ulated in amount according to the mode o
catching and appliances used, and quantity Of
fish captured: the money paid for the licenses
to be expended for the continuous propagation
and restocking of such waters; or, in lieu o.
such money, they might deliver certain
! quantity. of tertilized spawn to the United
States or state fish commissioners, as national
or state laws would indicate, for the restock
| ing of the same waters. The sum necessary
| would be but trihing and the expenditure 8
good Investment even benefit. and an in.
| creasing income to the fishermen, and not onl,
to them but to the community at large.
He asked the cooperation Of every gentle
man present in urging firmly and PERSISTENT
the necessity of systematically stocking the
Mississippi and its afluents with shad and
salmon. If they united the United States
commissioners would give a respectful atten
| ton to the request.