The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-02
FISH THAT GO TO WASTE.
TIE PLEA ROE SEINE FISHING ON
LAKES IN THIS STATE.
Great Quantities OF whitensh and wall
Eyed Pike that Are Valuable for Food.
but Csn't ne Taken by Hook and Line.

VI M " NAN ~ III W
count of the sbsurdlty and inconsistency Of tn,
laws governing the taklng Of fish from LAX,
Kenka and the other lakes Of the State. ant
pointed out especially the manner those law'
affected and made useless the work the Fish
Commissioner had done In stocking the inland
lakes, more particularly Lake Keuka, with fish
not native 10 the waters. lie suggested that the
only way to reconcile the situation with com
mon sense would be TO amend the game laws SO
as TO permit fishing with seines in Lake Keuka
and the other lakes ut certain seasons, the
nets to be Of = mesh sufficiently large TO pre-
vent the taking Of salmon trout Of a less weight
than Eve pounds, and to be licensed by the Fish
Commissioner at so much for each net, the
proceeds to DO used in restocking the various
waters 30 6shed. This suggestion met with the
approval of s~portsmen, but was not approved
by the Fish Commissioners, and It came 20
naught. Consequently sportsmen and others
along Lake Keuka are not "a little surprised to
learn, which knowledge only came to them a
few days ago, that the State Board Of Fish Com
mis- sloners q month ago made 1t legal to draw
scines for white FISH in the waters of Canaan
ds!gua Lake until Dec. /. 1894. ON application
to the Board of persons desiring to fish in this
manner, for a license, which application, il
favorably considered. will be granted. Tie Ii
censo To be for whitofish only, all other kinds
taken TO be returned TO the water"
1t was not known in the Lake kenka district
that the Board of Fish Commissioners had
suggested in TnE SUN, or the application OF
ss SGn SS ud N thus region would certainly
prai habitat Of the finest salmon trout taken
from any Of the waters Of the State. Ten years
pr SO ago the, Fish Commissioner stocked tho
dence Is abundant that both whitensh and pike
have thriyed wonderfully. The whitehsh is one
and the .glass-eyed pike also stands high.
The whitetsh, like the, shad, belongs to
ta mysterious order OF hshes' aud upon What it
Rissined yet e natural home Is n the great
fisheries are the most important of all the lake
tlsheries. This singular member OF the plsca-
torial family is certainly not q ~predacious fish.
agalp like the shad, It now and then. evidently
IN playful moods, darts upon some glittering
other fsh. and is hooked. INSTANCES OF this kind
are so rare, however, that the whitetish would
SR;syyer even " M repay the angler by as mueh as once
Tbs slass-eyed pike is also a. native of the
the salmon" Of the lower Susquehanna River,
Why It should be called a pike is not clear, but
how 1t ever came TO be digni1ed BY the name OF
T. saI Inn n1fs E stu H. deeper mystery; y Bq ,h whether h
little Of oil three, It Is o esh Of splendid quality.
Ia the sus9uehanns River-and Of late IN the
Itself to be as daring as the pike and as tena-
s s1Ins as TIE Ths i Rss' takes K s9 the sTofi s Ss dfilp n Il sh seS
streams, and Is In consequence a thing of use
But from some mysterious Causes the eIssssseeyed
In Lake Keuka seems to have changed its
assPss in in a rssSpscs to ZIP rGSyy t aus sport for 70 the he
S6stinotely refused e be tempted by any
ash would take a book ha iaGisf been made al mans shis
caught on tlp-ups through the ice. This showed
that the giass-eyed pike might be the source OF
f fISSss fp95kS IN S Tints NOT a'fh TasS. but ot. gn 6nc. ia ssS
years, so this fish is practically as useless in the
economy Of the region as Is It's luscious
The game laws of the State strictly forbid. I'M
der very severe penalties, fishing with nets in
The object Of this Is to protect the salmon
trout from the raids OF pot tishermen, but at the
and the whitedsh H. a net Dish only, and was
known to be spch when II was placed in the
the f@"ii io 1esfsi IN ha' question TSea paFPSS By p %as ssfV witS 10
the choicest, food ashes q The country.
puzzles those people: When the glass
the strange freak that makes It worth
less as a fish for hook and line was not, of course,
s sSrs ! cv Ual s ssa years. rs ssSet tsas this hsf fsS Se ooSId
not be tax en- in that way. and that the money,
time, ana labor that were used by the State in
the whitedsh and the glass-eyed pike, were
As good as thrown away, unless the game laws
dition the work had brought about.
More than thar, old Keuka fishermen. oo-
ton OF these fishes has been fully as detrimental
10 salmon trout fishing as gill netting has been
Is. In the first place. the whitensh is a pro-
liho breeder. and IN its young the salmon
trout found a new and luscious prey. IL is
, common, thing to find on the surface of
iSisps Lake young S'ns whitefish showins the
lnmistakable marks OF the salmon fronts great
game fish to turn aside, to a great degree, from
OF the available baits the fishermen could
non trout fishing has never been so good in
lake keuka since the whitetsh were put in, 1t
. a lamentable fact in Seneca Lake, where
ent, not one has been caught by trolling for
ears, the decadence, of the sport dating from
.rout are plentiful in Senaca Lake Is unmis-
,akably shown by, the fine specimens that bur-
vet their destructive traps nightly in, that lake.
II this theory that the whitehsh has caused
sinoR trout ms nsh ~ 2. TO greatly detsripfats in
Ca Lake DO true, the whitefsh has done the
lamsge through no fault OF It's own. 1t has
'orges itself upon that product. But against
he glass-eyed pike the charge is different, This
lntold injury to salmon trout interests by It's
'reedy aud persistent pursuit OF the young sal
non trout, Wnlcn IL makes It's particular prey.
his was an enemy and a danger which did not
.onfront the salmon trout before the lakes were
tocked with the pike.
Ii was this situation and an understanding of
he feeling in regard To II that led The Sun COR
esp9ndent, SIX years ago 20 suggest something
imilar 10 the plan which the Fish Commission
eem 20 have adopted in regard 20 Canandaigua
AXE. The license for netting In that AXE is
Tor whitehsh only" because there are no
lass-eyed pike there, one idea that was
made for the. legAlizing OF selne fishing
2 this way originally was that IL would make
Z every licensed fisherman u vigilant de-
ectlve against illegitimate gill netters,
lac interests OF the state virtually being their
i'm, Under the law making net fishing a. any
.ne a misdemeanOr, there are scores Ur pot
shermen engaged in netting salmon trout
lightly, and, dissatisfied as they are al the stu
ton under that law. honest and law-abiding
sh-rmen have never felt inclined 20 make any
Hort 20 bring them 10 Justice, Unofficial re-
orts from Canandaigua Lake are 20 the effect
hat during the last month, during which the
plan has been ON trial. there were
iore arrests for Rill-netting salmon trout IN
TAT lake ana more illegal nets destroyed than
Or many years.