Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-10-07
PROTECTING FISH.

APoper Read by Il. Q. Sweeney, Of st. Paul,
at the Recent Chicago Meeting.
lOhicago Times Oct. 81
"a plea for protecting the Mississippi River
System" was the subject of paper read by
DR.. r. O. Sweeney, of St. Paul. He desired
to call attention, he said. to the particular and
marked omission OF legislation in the common
wealths bordering upon the Mississippi River
and its 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 eyery-
where in general. Sometimes as many as fif-
teen men to an ark are employed, slaughter
ing fish with -. - -. - Z, 1r1
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 earlv
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
dispose of the selected spoil in supplying the
daily wants of the nearer villages and towns
selling to hotels and dealers the less market
able. while thousands of pounds of the largest
the daily trains. They often actually depopu.
late stream, or come SO near to it that ar
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 a Ger
tain number Of hooks to a line, and no one per
son allowed to set, own or control more than {
| limited number of lines within certain limit
ed distance. The streams within the jurisdic
ton and control of local legislation can be, ant
usually are, protected by such laws, but tn,
generous laws of the United States allow too
much liberty in this matter of fishing in tn
great highway rivers One man, if he so de
termines, may selfshly deprive whole commu
mites of their rights to catch and enjoy fisl
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 tn
United States and state commissions SHOULD
have fair and unobstructed field for the ex
pertinent, of the final success of which tn
author had most sanguine hopes,
He thought that s.
| AN EFFICIENT REMEDY
would be congressional legislation, in effec
that all persons who catch fish as business
and to sell, from any public waters whatever
should pay a certain sum of money as a Ii
cense for such privilege, the sum to be reg
ulated in amount according to the mode {
catching and appliances used, and quantity q
fish captured; the money paid for the license
to be expended for the continuous propagatio
and restocking of such waters; or, in lieu {
such money, they might deliver certai
quantity of tertilized spawn to the Unite
States or state fish commissioners, as nations
or state laws would indicate, for the restocl
& ing of the same waters The sum necessar
would be but tritling and the expenditure
good investment. even a benefit and an in
creasing income to the fishermen, and not onl
i to them but to the community at large. 2.
He asked the cooperation of every gentle
man present in urging firmly and PERSISTENT
the necessity of Systematically stocking tn
Mississippi and it's aff1uents with shad an
salmon. If they united the United State
commissioners would give respectful atten
ton to the req uest