Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-12-28
THE DOGFISH MUST DIE.
Maine Fishermen Rise in Their Miahi
to Make War.

| The fishermen of Maine have risen in
their might and say that the dogfsb
must 60 This is the verdict that has
been reached after much financial
suffering by fishermen all along the
Atlantic coast and the final word. seal
ing the fate of this destroyer of the food
hsh, has been said by Maine fishermen
1t remained for the residents of Orrs
island to start the movement, which is
now we'll underway, against the dog
hsh. A petition has been started by
the fishermen at Orr's island, which is
in the town of Harpswell, and which
has been widely circulated. This
i petition already bears many prominent
names in Bangor, Portland, Gloucester
and Boston as well as other fishing
towns on the coast.
1T IS hoped and expected that some
thing will soon be done in regard to the
determination of this pest of the ocean
| ana the quickest way to get rid of the
| WolhSh dogtish is to put a bounty on
| MIN. The parts of the coast especially
| troubled by this species of shark is that
| lying between PASSPORT, Me-, and Cape
| HatteraS, N. G.
| The dOgfiSh is a species of the shark
and has habit of following it's prey in
| packs. Its body is long, head fiat and
teeth in both jaws sharp edged and
formed for cutting. Its tail is longer
than it is broad. The upper part of the
body is slate gray and the under part
yellowish. while this fish uses it's spine.
| the point of which is poisonous, in a
remarka bic manner bending itself into
the form of bow, and unbending with
a powerful spring. 1t has been caught
| in nets which have been set for other
| fish and sometimes measures there or
| four feet in length. These fish have
multiplied very much of late and as
nothing has been done to exterminate
them, the people of the Atlantic coast
lave thought it their duty to bring the
matter before the government in the
| form of n petition which will be placed
| before Congress as it's next sitting.
! The nations fisheries belong to the
| people of the nation; therefore it is the
business and interest of the people to
preserve them and consider the cost of
| doing so merely an insurance of the
| peoples food supply. The people of the
nation constitute the consumers and
| the consumers have an important in
| terest to see that the edible ocean fish,
| SuCIl do COu, IlcuuOCh, IlCIIlIS, elC. w
not become so scarce that the price will
| become almost prohibitive as the price
| of Holsters has nearly become.
| Dogfsh, the sea wolves of the ocean,
| infest the Atlantic coast within a great
range of latitude in schools, and each
| dogtish which weighs five pounds will,
| it is estimated eat and destroy s. to
| $100 worth of edible food fish yearly.
! Not only do the dogfish eat the valuable
| fish, but they eat the food of the same
good fish, thus doing double injury to
| the nations fisheries.
| The price of fish will surely advance
with the growing destruction of ocean
! food fish. There is too much capital
| invested in the ocean food fisheries, too
many men and families dependent on
employment in the same, and too many
people needing fish as food to think of
| adopting close seasons for ocean food
| fish. Swordfsh, formerly one of the
greatest means of keeping down the in
crease of dogfisn, are now being caught
so fast that the dogfish are now in
creasing. There is at the present time
not inducement enough for the Usher
men to- stop catching Holsters,
mackerel, haddock, cod, etc; hence food
fish are pursued in season and out of
season, while the dogfish multiply.
Inducements in the form of a small
bounty would cause the fishermen to
divide their efforts. One effort would
be directed to the destroying of schools
or dogfsh and the other to supplying
the food market. These dOgfish can be
converted into fish fertilizer and the
products will pay part If not the
whole of the bounty money. The
nation paying five cents bounty money
on each dogfsh is like taking money
out of one pocket and putting it into
another and then putting the same
money back into the original pocket.