The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-01-05
FISH COMMISSION REPORT.


 
 Work of Preservation of Denlzens of the Water-Careful Work of the Two Years Just Closed.-Important Rec ges in the Laws Needed to Stop De- population of Streams and Woods. The report of the commissioners of fish and game has just been submitted to Governor Coffin. In it they note that; From the fact that the bill creating the commission was not approved tll April 30 1895, which was soon after It's passage by the legislature, we did not come into being till the spring distr- button of brook trout for that year had taken place. Therefore our report or that distribution is made from such da- ta as we have been able to get from R. F. Follett, who was superintendent or i hatcheries and the distribution of fry for the commissioners of inland fish cries, whose successors we are. It is to be regretted that such report is not more complete.
 The first duty imposed on this board by the creative act is the supervision of hatcheries. The hatcheries we found on assuming office, consisted of a small building on leased ground at Shelton, fitted with the requisites for shad hatch ing This station answers the require ments fairly we'll We found also that the state owned a building at the re- taining ponds at Joshuatown in Lyme, not fitted up for matching purposes, however
 This is all there was in the way of state hatcheries; there was some para phrenalia at Divided" that has since been used in shad matching at another point"
 Fish Propagation,
 "The second duty is that of the intro auction, propagation and distribution of such food fish and game as are adap- ted to the waters and lands of this state. In the discharge of this duty your commission was sadly hampered by the fact that, with one exception, the appropriations were specific, and, as we understand it, could be used for those purposes only. The appropriation for the two fiscal years ending Septem- Der 30, 1S97 were as follows: Brook trout brown trout and Atlantic Salmon $5,000; shad and retaining ponds, $5,000; extraordinary expenses of commission, $2,O0O; pay and expenses of commission CTS, $3000; clerical expenses, $400; amounting to $15400.
 'The only appropriation therefore, where any discretion was allowed to the commission in it's expenditure was the one of $2,000 under the head of ex- traordinary expenses. The bulk of this has been, as it seems to us, necessarily used in perfecting the dams at Joshua town and preserving to the state its very valuable property there. The prop agation and Introduction of other fish than those specified in the bill was therefore almost out of the question by the express terms of the appropriations "As there was not a dollar appropria- ted for the Introduction Or propagation of game we have of course, been unable to do anything in this direction"
 Recommendations
 In the course of a careful review of the conditions in the state regarding fish and game, whichgit is not possible here to give fully, the commissioners make a number of recommendations Among these are: That the commission has no policing fund and it's members should be given the powers of grand jurors; that funds will be allowed for making the small temporary trout matching at Poquonock permanent and large; the removal of incongruities in the fish and game laws; the leasing of tracts of land at nominal cost as state game preserves; active work against the pollution of streams, which causes wholesale destruction of food fishes: intelligent legislation to prevent the ex- termination of Holsters.
 The report also contains returns of pounds and traps for two wears, statis- tics of the shad catch, distribution of trout fry, estimate of areas of ponds and lakes and a data about brooks and rivers of the state and proposed legis- lat1on concerning matters touched upon in the report. Descriptions and pictures Of numerous food fishes complete what must be regarded as a very compre- hensive and valuable report