The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-04-04
RESTRICTION OF FISHING METHODS

4 The greatest menace to wild
4 life of today comes from organ
4 lied destruction for profit. Many
j Of the laws of Louisiana have
been framed 60 meet this par
Il ticular phase of the conservation
4 question. While the law must
u not fail to curb the wanton de-
stroysr, this is not so important
sinte few men fail to recognize
the folly of destruction merely
X for amusement. There is usual
n ly some financial inducement to
u prompt wholesale destruction
I of birds, game and fish or other
natural resources.
Il Such destruction is worst when
Il it'involves the killing or capture
4 of fisf. game, ETC., under circum-
stances that leave them absolute
81 " no chance of either escape or
r production. The wastefulness
& of catching fish in their spawning
season, the folly and greed of
de ,troying birds and game on
t leir breeding grounds, at the
a time wi en- their future exist
ance depends on their escape
from all enemies, are often COM
N pletely ignored by the men who
e should be most interested i'll the
protection and increase of such
life.
Among the provisions Of the
Louisiana conservation laws that
il discourages shese practices is one
& prohibiting the use of explosives
and of deleterious substances in
streams for the purpose of de-
stroying fish. Killing by these
methods not only means a reck-
n less destruction of all fish-life,
including innumerable small fist.
II of absolutely no value to man in
ii their existant condition, but the
s. disturbance of the normal in.
s. vironment of the fish to such an
81 extent that their replacement is
greatly retarded OF rendered i'm.
4 possible.
81 Theuss Of gill nets, fyke nets
and Srammel nets il very de
y structiSe to fish of all species
y above certain size found in al
smaller bodies of water, such a
& bayous, small Jland-lOcked bays
;, and is illegal in Louisiana
IN to have such nets in 'poses
bn.
Seines and hoopnets, the us,
of which is permitted in fresl
water in Louisiana under certain
conditions, are much less de
structive to fish than the pre-
A cediag kinds of nets. They ma,
IS be1so employed as to cause tn
8 least injury to the fish and tn,
fishing grounds, and at the sam,
E time secure satisfactory result
Al for the fisherman. In SEEMING,
4. certain proportion OF. the sur
Z rounded fish escape, usually tn
most actiyeand vigorous, through
Il which'the plentiful reproduction
b of the species is apt to be accom-
a plished. Hoop nets, which ma,
not be set in streams less thai
forty feet wide, leave a compar
atively free way for.fish, so tina
only q reasonable per centage O
of those in adjacent waters ar
caught.
4 The catching of fresh waite
{ game fish with seines has beer
q prohibited in Louisiana for tw
principal reasons. Game fish
such as crappie and the variou
4 species Of bass and sun fish, ar
1 pot as prolific as the less choic'
q karietiesS and the capture o
Nage numbers by seines woul,
nse their early destruction
th fish are also very fastidiou
4 vi % the condition of the waite
pie shich they breed, and dis
4 aus snces due to SEEMING woult
the away those that were mo-
set 81. For this reason many o.
mai. tters in Louisiana in which
sh are found are excluded
territory IL Tliclysein-