Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-06-01

about from one person to another in this
general muddle. = Hampton Monitor.
A writer in the New York Evening
Post calls attention to the gradual pass.
ing of the Hudson river as a productive
fishing-ground. First went the Atlantic
salmon which, according to tradition,
once thrived in these waters. At least
Old Hendryk, to whom the river owes
Its name, reported in 1909 that he saw
great stores of Salmon" there. 1t is
possible, of course, that the adyen-
turous Dutchman was no expert in
piscatology and mistook something else
for the luscious salmo salar. In anv
case we have DeKay's authority for it
that the genus was pretty well extinct
by 1912. The sturgeon, ''once so COM
mon in the neighborhood of the State
capitol that it was known as Albany
Beef, +" passed the same way not MANY
years ago. Those splendid six and
eight-foot 400-pound bulks are plucked
from the cleaning Hudson no more.
And the gamey striped bass. the rock
bass of the South, is fast getting ex-
ceedingly scant. Last and most impor-
tant of the vanishing fish is the roe
shad. Despite the best efforts of the
State and national fisheries commissions,
the Hudson shad-catch dropped from
some 100000 in 1901, to $4,000 in 1904
and to 10000 last year. The pollution
of the stream from the towns and the
river steamers is assigned as the pro-
bable cause of this depletion. This year,
says the Post, the outlook is so unpromis-
ing.
KILLING THE GOLDEN EGG GOOSE.
Referring more particularly to con-
ditions that exist in the James river,
but which apply in a lesser-degree to
other waters of the State, the New
port News Press says editorially:
Few men have more persistently at
tempted to kill the goose which lays
the golden egg" than the oystermen of
Virginia Instead of realizing that
their interests are bound up in the de-
velopment rather than the destruction
of the natural rock oyster beds, they
seem to have gone upon the theory that
the business would last but a single
season and that it was up to them to
make the most of the limited oppor-
tunity before them. Thus most of the
tongers operating on natural rocks have
persistently and consistently violated
the laws adopted by the legislature to
protect and conserve the shell fish supply
of the bay and it's tributaries. AS the
years go by the complaint of poor
oyster crop becomes more frequent,
coincident with the reports of more
persistent efforts on the part of the
pirates to evade the law. The oyster
navy is admittedly unable to cope with
the violators of the law. The inevitable
result of such conditions is plain. The
natural rocks will be depleted and the
time soon will come when the oyster
business of the State will be in the
hands of the planters. When too late
the tongers will discover that they
have killed the golden egg goose and
they then will have to turn their at
tention to something less congenial in
the interesting pursuit of eking out a
living.
SOME FISH TALK.
Here are two recent editorials from
the Richmond Times-Dispatch which are
being given publicity. While it is not al
together correct in its view as to the
destruction by pounds, nevertheless the
Times-Dispatch's writer warns the
fishers not to use meshes that are two
small. We reproduce them for what
they are worth.
Apparently the fishing season has not
been a success this year, and we trust
that its comparative failure will teach a
much needed lesson. If so, its loss will
not be wholly without its benefit. The
"Unharvested Deep" of Homer is by
no means inexhaustible, and the present
system of setting pounds and nets far
out from the shore will inevitably de-
stroy the migratory fish. Not only do
these pounds catch the large fish, but
they gather in thousands of bushels of
small fish upon which the larger ones
feed. There is but short step between
destroying the food supply and destroy
ing the species directly. Virginia has
enormous wealth in its fish and oyster
industry, and there was a time when
sturgeon was so common as to be al
most a drug on the market. Today
they are a rarity. Even the delicately
favored spot is increasingly difficult
to obtain, and the "sheepshead, one of
the best fish that ever swan, is almost
extinct. AT the present rate of destruc-
tion these fish will soon go to join the
animals of a prehistoric age. Already
the diamond-back terrapin has become
a. luxury that is possible only for the
very rich, and while it is yet possible to
do so, the State owes it to its citizens to
take active measures to preserve the
great sources of wealth and good food
which could annually be supplied by
protecting our fish.
LIKE A CLOCK