The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-10-28
LAKE Fish IN PERIL
Food Varieties Succumbing
to Attacks of Carp.
WARFARE UNDER THE WATERS
whitehsh, the Splendid Fish of the
Great Lakes, in Danger of Exter-
minatIOn Through RaVages of
Finny Enemies-GOyernmen Asked
to Place Bounty on Carp.

Detroit, Oct 2l.-As trappers and hunt
ers in olden days looked mournfully on
4 the advance Of a civilization that drove
| their quarry from mountain and plain and
/ left the rolling prairie devoid of the
/ thunder of the hoOfs Of hundreds of bus-
I faIo. so the h0ary haired fishermen who
haunt the ports OF the Great Lakes. like
I the ghosts of a departed past, are watch
/ ing the rapid disappearance from the
waters that they have come to love SO
well Of fish that once were common, but
now have become almost a lu~ury.
/ And If these old salts may be believed.
civiIiza ton Is in great measure response
Die for the depopuIation of the waters Of
/ the Great Lakes Of these much-sought
/ members Of the finny tribe. They blame
I a civilization that has sent hundreds OF
steam boats laundering in and out river
and lake. that has crowded the shoals
I with pile drivers and dredges, that has
7 hlled the waters with the spawn of
/ foreign nsh, whose only occupation has
/ become 10 prey upon the spawn of other
/ FISH that the palates Of the people de-
mand.
Are Becoming Depleted.
Unknown TO the average man, u great
/ battle has been waging in the waters
| under the surface The war has been be-
/ tween the strong and the weak, the fish
that civilization will not eat and the fish
/ that civilization demands According TO
the men whose lives and fortunes depend
upon the amount of fish they catch, the
weak are losing out. and the world is
/ facing d famine !u fresh water fish
For relief fishermen and those who
deal I'm the catch look TO the govern
/ meat. There Is "a growing sentiment that
/ the hatcheries should plant in the wa
| ters OF the Great Lakes more spawn or
/ 6sh that are I'm demand. But more i'm
/ pOrtant than all fishcrmcn are crying out
I that the destTOyers must be destroyed
/ Place a bounty on the German carp, they
( say Pay men toT catching them and
/ freeing the rivers and lakes from their
death-dealing habits.
/ Governments nave placed a bounty on
such animals as destroy American song
/ birds Why not on "a FISH that does moth
/ ing but destroy nsh that every house
wife IN the land demands This Is the
/ argument they use
From a purely local standpoint, IL IS
/ the whitefish that is I'm peril Local fish-
] ernen declare that we are In Danger OF
/ soon seeing the day when the whitefish
/ IN the Detroit River viii be a thing Of the
/ past.
Whitehsh Catch Falling on.
/ Il Is widely known that the wnitedsh
Of the Detroit River are the finest Favored
Of that variety in the land. They are IN
great demand over the entire continent.
/ In this river the catch Of whiteish has
! H. nj
/ IFS. Statistics show that forty years ago
the catch OF Detroit River whitetish aver
aged I00.000 annually In recent years
/ this magnificent showing has fallen TO
/ less than 5000. Local fishermen and
Others interested i'm The question say that
/ unless American and Canadian fisheries
! Dropasate two billions OF whtehsh eggs
annually for the Detroit River the white
4 fish soon viii disappear entirely. The
! government expends money for salmon,
I sbad. and other FISH. Why shouldn't IL
/ spend money for the propagation OF
/ wAitedsh. a variety that is constantly IN
demand?
The hsh peril is evidenced in no moro
| forciblc way than by the increased price.
AS the population increases the demand
I for fish is increasing in far greater pro-
portion. local dealers declare They even
go so far as 10 say that there Will be =
/ steady Increase in the price Of the better
kinds Of FISH.
II is claimed that the German carp ia
/ the Detroit River have entirely destroyed
the yellow perch. Salmon and trout are
as plentiful as they were ten years agI.
! They exc out an existence on herring
and whitefish. and for that reason, local
/ fishermen claim, they should not be pro
teCted
should Propagate Whitefsh.
/ 1t is set forth that whitefsh are the
best kind of commercial fish in the Great
/ Lakes, and for that reason they should be
propagated in the fisheries. In Lake
! Huron over 100000 are caught annually,
and the same amount in Lake Erie. To
/ overcome the catch of 100000 FISH, it IS
|. iclaimed that the fish hatcheries should
propagate two billions OF whiteiish fry an
Inually and liberate them. The catching of
100000 whitefsh annually means the loss
of =. 900, 600 of eggs yearly TO these waters
lalOne
There are not as many fish frozen as
lin former years. It is probable that -
per cent of the fish caught in the Lower
Lakes are frozen and stored, leaving 80
lper CEN that are sold fresh. II is thought
that the increased prices in beef poultry,
and pork have had something to do with
this The demand for fish increased
greatly with the Chicago beef scandals
wildly portrayed In the columns Of the
newspapers. The result was that fish
were sold fresh on the market. Lake
Michigan, Georgian Bay, Manitoba, AMI
the lakes in the Canadian Northwest
were even called upon 10 furnish their
quota to keep up with the unwanted de-