Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-12-06
our FISHERIES.
cor. xeDoxALD's REPORT.


- a. ,hs eevernsr Calling Attention
an same Important Matters -shad aud
HERRING.
The following letter from Fish-Com-
missioner Mcdonald explains itself:
To His Ereeueney, W. r. Cameron,
Governor.
In transmitting this repors Of the
work of the State Commission Of Fish
cries for the two years ending Septem-
Der 80, 1885, I respectfully and earn
estly invite your attention tc the va
rious recommendation Of legislation
embodied in the report which are de-
signed TO promote the success Of the
work of artificial propagation and dis
tribution Of food-fshes in the waters Of
the Commonwealth, and to render per-
manent the results of the work, by sub
iecting to reasonable control, super
vision, and restraint the fisheries Of
both our interior and coast waters.
The principal recommendations en-
bodied in the report are here, for your
convenience, concisely presented
]. Rigid limitation and control Of the
pound-net fisheries is necessary in order
to prevent the destructinn Of the shad
and herring fisheries.
The practical exclusion from our
streams 10y the multiplication Of pound
nets in the bay and the estuaries Of our
rivers Of species like the shad and her
ring, which must reach fresh waters
before they can reproduce their kind,
must produce a rapid decline in the
amount and value Of these fisheries.
Artificial propagation, which has exer-
cised an important conservative infiu-
ence over the fisheries, is inadequate to
contend unaided with the adverse con-
ditions that now assail them and
threaten their very existence. The
number of shad reaching fresh water
grows less year by year, and the oppor-
tunity for artificial propagation, which
depends upon the catch Of shad in the
rivers. grows correspondingly less with
the decrease in the river catch.
1t is recommended therefore
/. That the setting of pound-nets,
fyke-nets, weirs, stske-nets, and all
other fixed contrivances for the capture
of fish in our rivers be prohibited under
such penalties and forfeitures as will
guarantee the observance of the law.
2. That the setting Of pounds in the
bay be prohibited, unless the party or
parties proposing to operate the same
shall have previously-in the manner
prescribed by law-obtained a permit
or license for the same, such permit
describing precisely the location of the
pounds the number Of fathoms Of
hedging the number Of pots, bowls, or
pounds to be operated and such other
details as are necessary for enforcing
the provisions of law and further, for
each pot, bowl, or pound specified in
the license or permit the lessee shall
pay to the officer authorized by law to
collect the same the sum Of $50.
3. That the proceeds OF all fees or
taxes thus collected shall be paid into
the treasury Of the Commonwealth, and
be kept and accounted for as 50 the fish
cries fund.-" and be applied to artificial
propagation and distribution of fishes,
and for the compensation of such " fish
wardens " or other officers as may be
necessary to enforce the laws regu-
lating the fisheries.
IL. From time to time we have had
laws prohibiting the use of nets, seines,
traps, or fish-dams, for the capture of
fish in our rivers. The effect has been
in all cases to increase the supply Of
fish in the streams thus protected.
These laws have, however, been local
in their application, and have expired
by limitation in three or four years.
The permanence IF the river fisheries
and success in our efforts to rep0pulate
them, can be accomplished only by the
enactment of law general in its APP
plication, and without limitation as to
time, prohibiting, under severe penal
ties:
/. The use Of lime, fish-ber-
ries or other poisons, or Of dynamite
and all other explosives for the capture
Of fish in any Of our waters.
Q. The use Of seines or set nets of any
kind, or Of fsh-dams, fall and hack
traps, or any other fixed continuance for
the capture Of fish in any ofour streams
above tide-water.
III. The present law requiring the
general erection of fishways needs to
be modified, as it is, in great measure,
imperative, and cannot be enforced in
any particular case unless sustained by
local sentiment. 1t is recommended
that the law be amended so as to place
the matter in each county at the discre-
ton of the county supervisors, who
should be authorized to erect such fish
ways as may be needed at the public
expense, and should be empowered to
make a special levy to defray the ne
cessary costs Of the same. The direct
responsibility Of the Board OF Super
visors to their people will be sufficient
guarantee that no expenditures are in
CURED which are not warranted by
public sentiment and | am satisfied
that few years will witness the open
ing of all our streams by fshways, so
as to permit the free circulation OF both
anadromous and resident species of
fishes up and down our rivers.
~. The oyster-tisheries Of the Ches-
apeake, which are to-day an important
element Of wealth to the Tidewater
section Of the State, and which afford
profitable employment to so many Of
her people, have not one 1.-THE Of the
importance or value they are destined
to attain at some future day, when we
have utilized to the utmost the capabil-
tiles Of production which now lie DOR
mant under the surface of this magni-
ficent inland sea.
The natural oyster-beds from which
we now draw our principal market
supply, and which furnish the seed for
the plantiDg-grounds, not only in the
Chesapeake, but for the whole coast
from New Jersey to Long Island sound,
occupy but an insignificant portion of
the entire area Of the bay. The area
adapted to planting is alike limited in