Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-20
Regulation Of Nearby Fisheries.

Representative Lintnlcum OF MARY id'io
performs public service OF marked
merit In calling the attention Of Congress
to the decline and the main reasons
therefor of the fisheries OF the Potomac
river, its tributaries and OF the Chesa-
peake region In general. Mr.. Linthicurn
will perform a great service to this and
ensuing generations II he persists In push
ing to faal favorable action his bills for
the protection Of what remains OF the
Chesapeake and Potomac fisheries. he
has demonstrated that the depletion OF
food fish in Washington's adjacent waters
is due mainly to two causes-first. the de-
Iiberate sacrifice of good food fish by
the fertilizer factories In the manufacture
Of oil or fertilizer compounds. and Sec
ond, the lack of regulations as to the
time, manner and conditions under which
fish arc taken.
One OF the measures of which Mr.. Lin
thicum is the author and which he means
to press upon the consideration Of Con-
gress would regulate the interstate ship
ment OF fish fertilizer prohibit the catch
Of food fish for fertilizer and compel
Ash fertilizer factories TO set forth upon
all their interstate shipments that In the
making of such fertilizer they have con-
formed with the law. Under the terms
Of the pending bill the fertilizer factories
Of the Chesa peake would be allowed to
reduce such fish as mephaden or pogie
or mossbunker, sharks, doghsh. skates.
rays. sea robins and sculpins, but would
be prohibited from reducing any of the
varieties of food fish formerly plentiful
but now relatively scarce in our adjacent
no .,F Ha
makers is that they only reduce now such
Ash are are unfit for human food, and yet
the declaration Is made that they oppose
the bill. 1t does not seem reasonable
that IL their operations are now limited
to the reduction Of menhaden and other
fish that are not used for human food
they should oppose the measure.
The second Of the Linthicum fish pro-
lection bills would. il enacted into law.
enable the Department OF Commerce to
regulate seine hauling. prescribe the seine
fishing season and limit the use Of nots.
The decline within recent years In the
supply Of fish from the Chesapeake and
It's tributaries Is notorious. Extermina-
ton OF food fish is not only threatened.
but II il impending. The reasons for this
as set forth by the member from Mary
land. are plausible. The bureau OF fish
cries for q number OF years has been al
lestng these causes for the steady de-
crease In the Chesapeake fish catch and
has been urging the correction Of the
abuses aimed at by the pending meas
ures. The Maryland State Fish and Game
Protective Association takes the view
that fertilizer factories and wastefui
SEEMING and netting are responsible for
the declining Ash supply.
This Is question Of conservation In
which the people OF the district of CO.
lumbia and the Potomac and Patuxent
valleys are Immediately concerned. These
great rivers and the Rappahannock and
the bay itself are naturally great fishing
grounds. They are capable OF perpetual
to countless millions Of people. Within
the memory Of living men there were I'M
pcftant and wonderfully productive fish,
cries on the Potomac within a few miles
Of Washington. One after another was
abandoned. The fishing shores reiterated
to the lower reaches Of the river. then to
the mouth. then to the bay. and now
these are beginning to fail. Men engaged
In the Ash industry, like most other men,
will not weigh future against present
profits. The goose that lays the golden
eggs must be protected.
With proper laws and their enforcement
the Chesapeake ana the rivers pouring
into it may be restored and maintained
as one Of the great food-producing rec
gions Of the world.