The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-03-04

ergy TO the duties OF the office, he has
always met with the cordial support
Of his fellow commissioners and, in
fact, of all sportsmen and lovers of ma
ture in the state. The other three
commissioners at present are William
A. Halsey of Newark, Benjamin p.
Morris Of Long Branch and Richard T.
Miller of Camden.
The commissioners appointed under
the law of 1894 have made regular an
nual reports, and these show that dur
ing the incumbency of the commission
there have been collected fines for vio-
lation of the law to the extent of 1928,
1864, the states share of which
amounted to 7,792.2S This latter sum
was turned into the treasury of the
commission and expended for the fur
therance of its work. The reports
also show that there were distributed
throughout the state 474 ringnecked
pheasants and 1925 quail. During the
last year the commissioners gave heed
to some few demands for rabbits and
distributed 100 cottontails In the dis
tribution of fish the commission was
among the first to recognize the fact
that the distribution of grown fish
proved more satisfactory than the
planting of eggs or fry, for the latter
were subject to too great rate of
mortality on account of their delicate
condition. The commission was the
first one in the country to successfully
carry out the project Of bringing car
loads of live fish from the great lakes
to the waters of the east. and annually
this work has been going on for the
past five years. The commission was
at first at loss to secure a supply of
black bass, a fish that cannot be bought
in the market like trout, but a happy
solution was found in the discovery
that annually thousands of these fish
found their way into the Delaware and
Raritan canal, through which they
Travelled to certain destruction. Now
most of these fish are netted and placed
In the waters of the state, the work all
being done by the wardens. The re-
ports show that the commission has
distributed 256,300 yearling brook
trout, 1926 channel catfish, 1898 black
bass, 1856 pike perch, 1S0 strawberry
bass, 2,510 pike and pickerel, 1883
yellow perch, 1898 white bass and All
white perch These were all adult fish,
and these figures do not include many
thousands of fish transplanted from
one pond to another and of which no
record was kept. In addition to this,
the waters of the state were supplied
with millions of bait fish, food for the
fish which had been introduced.
When the commission took Office.
1t found on the statute books Won
derful assortment Of laws, many OF
them contradictory and many absurd.
Thus, for instance, there was law
making 1t an offense punishable with
state prison for six months for any one
to take yellow perch out Of ponds, but
there was no protection for the same
fish in running water. One law went
SO far as to provide for the imprison-
ment Of corporations for polluting wa
tiers, and justices Of the peace We're
authorized to enforce this law. The
commission promptly secured simpli-
ication of these laws, and today there
are no contradictory enactments in the
general fish and game law, and the
general penalty for violations Of the
law is a fine of $40 or double that pen
atty for second offense. Through the
influence of the commission the use of
spears, set lines, nets of all kinds and
of gang hooks has been abolished, as
has also the taking Of fish at night.
Most of the laws were made more
liberal, few more stringent.
One OF the most interesting incidents
in the career Of the commission was Its
tussle with the men and corporations
engaged in netting menhaden and other
fish used for making oils and compost.
The legislature had some years previ-
GUS passed law prohibiting all such
practices, but the law, like most ether
laws pertaining to fish and game, had
become a dead letter, and no attempt
had ever been made to enforce it. In
fact, the menhaden people had been
advised by the most prominent law
yers in the state and the country that
the law was unconstitutional. The
commission set itself to work to ascer-
tain just what the law amounted to.
A menhaden steamer was seized, and
the penalty prescribed by lava fine
of $200-was imposed in the lower
courts. The case was carried to the
supreme court, and here the constitu-
tionality Of the law was fully sus-
tanned.
The menhaden people found them
selves In a sad predicament, for the
whole coast of New Jersey, perhaps
the most fruitful for their operations,
was closed to them. They appealed to
the legislature to repeal the obnoxious
law, but John w. Griggs was govern
or, and he would have vetoed any
such measure, if indeed the menhaden
men had had power enough to pass
such a measure. But the commission
did not desire to stand in the way of
an industry which brought revenue to
the state and afforded employment for
many of its inhabitants. No reason
taking of menhadeH, and SO compre-
mise resulted in the passage Of the
present license law, which in the first
place absolutely prohibits the taking
of food fish for compost or oil and in
the second place requires all menhaden
fishermen to take out licenses, the cost
of the latter being graduated by the
size Of the vessel This law went into
effect, and the result was threefold-
"a no food fish are converted into COM
post or taken for the purpose of ex-
tracing their oil; (2) about one=half
the number of menhaden vessels now
ply along the New Jersey coast of the
number formerly engaged there; 81
the law has yielded a revenue to the
state during the five years of its op-
Grafton Of $1S.675. This sum was turn
ed into the treasury of the commission
and materially assisted in defraying
the expenses Of stocking and enforcing
the laws.
The foresight and the promptness
with which the commission acted are
perhaps best exemplified by its ac-
ton in connection with the introduction
of tench into the state. Despite the
fact that the people had already recog-
nized the serious mistake made by the
introduction of the German carp into
the waters of the state, there were
still fish culturists who thought it would
be well to introduce the European
tench. an inferior species of carp. The
United States government imported