The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
TEaEs sun SHlN tisyAf. 0esll0BER I, lsos.

Now : large portion Of the frame 10 2
confused mass Of pushing architecture
thrown up by the aide Of railways and
trolley lines. Innumershse pound stakes
and oyster stakes make Raritan Bay look
like forest under food. t-s i
To be sure, it will be said that al these
changes are natural consequences OF tho
advance Of civilization. To some OK
tent they are. but many Of them are
merely the camp followers Of civilization,
and are sadly in need Of that training
which might teach them how to pick their
steps as they move along. Advancing
civilization should be forced to keep on
the highways and never be permitted
wantonly to sweep away landmarks,
desecrate graves, run over school chill
dren, block the coast lines and ruin tho
fisheries.
No sound argument can be presented
in favor Of pound netting. Tho thing.
as at present carried on, is linked to the
"wilful waste which Is bound to produce
the "woful want" Some thirty years
ago the dealers in buffalo hides laughed
at the idea Of the extinction Of the buffalo.
Where are the buffalo now? In the
menageries. Twenty-Five years ago king
fish swarmsd in tho lower bay. Now
a kingfish there is curiosity. Twelve
years ago the menhaden mon laughed
at tho idea Of any diminution in the run
of menhaden. They don't laugh at It
now. They arc catching very few. il
any; 80 they take food hshes. The acres
of menhaden which some twenty years
past used to glitter ON the surface Of the
water from tho Narrows to Sandy Hook
are now reduced to little shoals not over
ten feet square and appearing about
two or three times q week. Reports
tell us that the same Is true in Chesa-
peake Bay and the Virginia waters. And
yet the wiseacres say that there never
was and never can be any invention Of
man which can affect the 6sh supply Of
tho sea. Well, doubtless that is 30, II
We are to take the word sea- in ito gen.
eral sense, which includes all the seas and
oceans of thu world. But bays and inlets
are comparatively small, and the fishes
which have their spawning grounds in
them are limited in species, according to
locality and climate.
Several years ago the dealers planted
their pound nets in Buzzards Bay. In q
short time they had cleaned out all the
fish, and the people on the shores of that
bay suffered in consequence. The Massa-
chusetts Legislature passed a law pro-
hibiting the use Of pounds in Buzzards
Bay, and soon the fish began to come in
again and the people were satisfied.
Let us look at the Jersey shore. From
two to three miles out, the pounds stretch
forth their tentacles and stand defiantly
en- echelon along the coast. Az tho pro-
cessions Of fish from Southern waters
pass, as a rule, within that three mile
limit, they are held up by the barbados
along the line. And when in the spring
and early summer the fish are on the
way to their spawning grounds the de-
struction wrought by the pounds Is
incalculable.
Now it is claimed that the things are
an obstruction to navigation, and that
is the question which is soon to be de-
cided in tho United States Circuit Court
at Trenton: -Slfetilaa 1 the nets Be eboi-
ished under the Federal law as it stands,
the sportsmen of the country will rejoice,
the markets will be supplied with whole
some fresh fish and not with the taste
less and often tainted things which now
appear upon the stalls after coming
from refrigerators and pound nets. But
if the dealers should succeed in holding
their present grip, fishing in these waters
will in very few years be thing Of the
past, the last casts will be made with lines
about to be wound up forever, and some
future eel bobber or killifsherman may
astonish his companions with fish story
commencing with the words, -Once
upon time here in these waters there
were flashing and bespangled beauties
called squeteague, or sea trout