Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-29
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: run their nets as far as they can out
| into the middle of the Potomac The
Maryland men do the same from the OPP
| posite bank, and in the middle of the
| stream nets are so stretched that they
| catch the shad which swim along the
! bottom. The result is that the Potomac
river, which once had its shad by the
tens OF millions, had practically none this
year and this fish is likely to be exter-
minated as far as it is concerned. Mr..
smith says that If law were enacted
keeping strip one-third the width of the
river free of nets enough shad would go
up that strip to give US a plentiful sun
ply 1t is the same in many other parts
Of the United States.
Fish Ponds for the Farmers.
Tho day will come when every farmer
VINO has pond or stream on his place
WIZ raise his own fish, and at the same
time produce fish for the markets DR.
smith tells me that this is the case in
many of the countries of Europe. ana
that 1t is so in Germany, irrespective of
the iact whether the farmer lives in the
interior or along the sea. From GERMANY
the Iish commission has imported carp,
and these are now being raised here in
] 1901 NNeNANANASs llidI lneY sell IOr more
than Sl,OOO,OOO a year. In 1908 1900 900
pounds of them were caught in our public
waters, and in addition a vast number
were taken from private streams and
ponds.
Big Money in Oysters.
Some of the farmers of the south are
now making money out of oysters. This
is so all along the Atlantic coast, and es-
pecially on the Louisiana shores of the
Gulf of Mexico. Uncle Sans fishermen
have explored those waters and shown
the men how to smooth over the bed OF
the gulf in various places and cover II
with such material that the oysters
cling to.
DIR. Smith tells me that upon many OF
these beds there had been no oysters be-
fore, but that a year or two after their
making they were producing them at the
rate Of about 1900 bushels to the acre
| Those oysters sold for go cents a bushel
making the shore waters yield product
worth $1,000 per acre many times the
money product of the best cotton or rice
| fields in any part of the south.
Oyster planting Is now done to such an
extent that the greater part of our oyster
supply comes from oyster farms. The BIZ
valves grow in warm water as well as in
cold, and along the Gulf of Mexico they
are eaten all the year around. Farther
north they are not so good in July and
August.
JaDuncse Oysters for San Francisco.
| The fish commission has tried the ex-
pertinent of transplanting the Atlantic
oysters on the Pacific coast They are
| - thew do
not have any young, the water being too
cold for them to breed. These oysters
retain the flavor of the eastern oysters
and bring high prices in the markets.
A number of companies are now en-
gagged in bringing one and two-year-old
oysters from the Atlatic, and transplant
| ing them in San Francisco bay. They
! grow rapidly and are ready for market
| in one or two years after planting. These
| oysters are taken west in refrigerator
cars holding about 200 barrels each. They
are planted inside stockades which keep
out the poachers and certain fish enemies
of the oyster, and the plantations are
also overlooked by watch houses on piles.
The ordinary oyster of our northern
Pacific is small and II has a coppery
taste A better oyster is grown in Japan,
and especially in the cold waters along
Holkaldo, which is the northern island
Of that country. The government is now
importing some of these oysters which
will be planted along Puget sound and in
San Francisco bay. They are accustomed
to a colder water than that of our At
Iantlc oysters and it is believed that they
Will thrive.
Our Great Fishing Grounds.
During my talk with DIT. Smith asked
him where were the chief fishing
grounds Of the United States. He replied
Roughly speaking, there are three
First we have the coasts and the estu
aries of the rivers; second. the interior
streams and lakes, and third, the higf
seas. One of our greatest fishing grounds
is the banks of Newfoundland and an
other is the high seas Of the Alaskan
waters. Both of these places are sub
ject to somewhat the same conditions
They have food for fishes brought in by
great ocean currents. on the banks Of
Newfoundland this food comes largely
from the gulf stream and cold arctic
current and other currents. The result
is that the fish are found there in gres
numbers. They move over the banks
seeking the best feeding grounds. 1t II
strange to think OF fish out at pasture
but that Is the condition on these banks
THE Alaskan banks are about l2O mile
or more long. They have considerable,
width and are Inhabited by millions o