The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-24
FISH TALES BY EXPERTS.
an INTERESTING REPORT FROM
THE U. $. FISH COMMISSION.


Prodieiou. Numbers OF Ese. and Fry Pre-
sueed-Nsw rorh's sh.re-eoos Results
on the FsciSc-Good Money IN Undor-
water E.rmisk - Erect OF Tbsaass.
People who are interested in nsh. whether as
sportsmen or because of tho money that may
be made In the fsh business, will find in the
last printed annual report OF the United States
Fish Commissioners $500 q most interesting
lot Of information mixed In with no end Of data
attractive only to nsh cultivstors. Even the
statistics in tine shape of tables Of figures are
reasonably certain to attract the attention of
every reader. Thus no fewer than thirty four
different kinds of fsh wero kept under
the fostering care Of the Commissioners.
and the variety was great enough to In
oludo everything that any fisherman might
need-tho trout, the ouananish. tho salmon,
and the bass for the man with ny rod; the
catfish for the man with pole. bob, and sinkers;
the shnd. herring. cod, haddock. and whiteHsh
for the man with nets. and tho carp for the
farmer anxious for fertilizer for his fields.
Even the ladies who delight in aQuariums
might obtain from them the some what bcauti
full goldfish. Then. too. the numbers OF eggs
and fry produced at the hatcheries for distribu-
ton must prove interesting, for they were simply
colossal. or shad, for instance. in which New
York readers are especially interested. no fewer
than 3.324.00 eggs. o3,509.000 fry and 1.000,-
900 adults. In all 57,s33.000. were distributed,
besides more than 100000 fry deposited in
tho rearing ponds at Washington for distrlbu-
tion after they have attained SUFFICIENT size to
serve some other purpose than food for their
cannibalistic and other associates. or similar
Importance were the whiteash turned out for
the lake rerions-0 600. 900 eggs and 4s. $50. 900
fry-while Of pike perch. which ordinary rod
fishermen call pike. the enormous number
OF 100000 eggs and lsl,T0O,000 fry
we're distributed. Mention should also be made
Of the 30,000.000 lake herring, the 25.STl,-
900 cod, and the 7s.39s.O00 lobster fry pro-
duced. BY contrast, the 40 sun yearlings and
the 2T2 golden Idle distributed become Of some
interest. And when one remembers the great
popularity once predicted for the carp. tho
number OF carp ponds that were constructed.
anu the great wealth that each was TO bring to
its owner, ono reads with interest that the total
distribution OF carp in the year was but $4,000
In this distribution various State Commits
sioners received very large numbers to DO
planted as they saw ut. Ohio. New York, and
California, In the order named. were the most
highly favored in this respect. The Ohio Com
missioners received ls.000.00o fry OF the pike
perch; New York got 5000. coo eggs OF the pike
perch, 6,00o.000 OF the whitefsh, 100000 OF
the lake trout, 80, 900 OF the ouanAnish. 90. 900
OF tho Atlantic salmon. 100000 OF the shad.
and 5.4ls.0o0 shad fry; California received
100000 Qunnat salmon eggs.
TO people Interested In FISH culture California
furnished facts worth n deal more attention
than the mere statement OF the number OF
salmon eggs her Commissioners received A.
Is. Alexander, one OF the fishery experts. was
sent to California to investigate tue results that
had followed the planting OF fish on the Pacific
coast formerly unknown there. but com mon on
CNAkt-ShNu
striped bass among the rest. MIR. Alexan-
der says that the shsd Is increasing
In numbers yearly. ana s now one
of the cheapest Ash on the coast Compare
lively few years ago only the wealthy could
oil every one. During the year the iisk was very
numerous in the Sacramento aud San Joaquin
was very low IN price. About the middle. Of
November II was selling at two cents pound in
the city markets and about tho first OF Docem-
Der the FISH sold as low As four and five cents
ia the Columbia River the shAd Is very
rapidly increasing in numbers. The striped
bass. like the shad, has steadily increased in
numbers. and. like the sbad. II RttRins its
greatest abundance In San Francisco Bay and
merous than the shad, and holds higher place
In popular estimation as food fish,"
tho lobster on that coast (begun in 1889 failed.
The failure is suppo-ed to have been due to the
small number planted-only 3O2 In all.
The great decline IN the salmon fishing OF tho
Columbia River region was Investigated. and
the blame placed on the greedy owners of can
heres. No effort to establish hatchery In
the region was considered worth making. be-
cause It would be impossible to captur. enough
cause the csnner I"p X he'd tho river clean.
some Of the space devoted to the shellhsh
would sas'y hTia the attention OF Sesders not
S.gcrtoos OF the Johns Hopkins University and
DR.. w. X. Brooks made attempts to rear oysters
from the eggs. The difficulty previously cx-
perienced had been in the failure TO mud any
food suited to the Larvae oysters or any means OF
renewing tho water where the larvtp oysters
were kept without losing the oysters. MIR. Sig.r-
foos earned that the larvR would feed vora.
ciously upon a certain kind Of algR after II had
been powdered In n mortar. Under this treat
ment they grew rapidly TOR some time. and
large quantities were carried In good health
past the stage where the former experi ments
met with failure but after n while the remains
of the powdered align, which were 10 minute
that no way of getting rid Of them coulh lie
found. caused ths water to become vitated.
with the inevitable result OF DESTROYING the
DR.. Schiedt. In another field. found that tho
presence of great quantities Of minute align Ia
the water 10 unfavorable to tho lie Of oysters.
interfere with the freedom Of ciliary action.
causing the animals practically to starve to
death because OF super abundance OF food"
most interesting experiment In clam culture
at Essex. Mass. 10 considered In tho report.
Certain lots Of one acre each were staked of on
the Essex River flats and were leased out at a
rental Of 81 ayear. with u fee of 30 cents added.
In all 37Is acres had been taken up and seeded
with small clans Obtained from natural beds.
Some OF the lots were found to he not well suited
10 the business, but the cultivated CLANS brought
Sl.75 . barrel. while the wild ciams brought
$3.50. II required 500 bushels OF seed for an
acre. and when the seed was properly distributed
on the bost lots the result was most satisfactory.
"One acre OF these clans Is considered TO be
worth 81 900" says the report. 9Th. clammers
are generally impressed that the industry can
be extensively anu probably developed"
That the farming OF land under water makes
the farmer at least as independent and sub
stantal citizen AS does the farming of dry
land will appear from another paragraph de-
voted to shell hsh, II says:
"A striking illustration Of tho utility OF a
rational system OF water culture applied to
moliusks il seen by comparing the oyster with
other shellfsh, the beds OF which are not sub
ject To private ownership except on nm exceed.
ingly small scale. Tho susceptibility VI tho soft
clam, the auahaug. and 1 escallop 10 cultivation
Is perhaps Ms pronounced Rs that of the oy ster.
and the comparison II therefore fair. While the
average quantities OF snft CLANS OF quahnugs.
and OF scnllops taken for market In the New
England states In lsD2 were respectively 227
bushels, 1874 bushels. and l70 bushels to n man;
the average quantity Of oysters was l,s02 bush
els to n man. Tho incomes OF the fishermen
from the sale OF these products indicate n simi-
lar disparity, being Sl25 per man Tor soft clans.
Sl6S per man for qnRhRuRs, SlIl per man for
soallops. and 81 500 per man for oysters"
When one compares tho varying crops and
fuctuating markets which the dry land farmer