The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1914-08-21
REGARDING FISH
Many Advocate Netting Of Fish for
Market

That the allowing of fishing
with nets in the waters of the state
would be good thing all can see
provided the fishing was conducted
under state supervision.
Everyone knows that St. Louis
county alone could supply three
states with food fish, fresh from
the lakes, providing certain re-
strictions were removed and that
the removal of the restrictions
would mean much to the people
of the state inasmuch as it would
give them chance to get a mess
of fish without going to the ex-
pense of fishing trip. At present
it is impossible to get fish even in
towns like Tower or Ely where
hundreds are caught but cannot
be sold or even served at the hotels
or cafes.
1t costs money to 60 on fishing
trip and the poor man is denied the
luxury. Should things be so ar
ranged that native fish could be
secured at the markets or from
ishmongers, fresh from the healthy
waters of this country, what an as.
sistance this would be in the high
cost of living problem. for it stands
to reason that fish caught here
could be sold cheaply whereas at
present high prices must be charg-
ed for fish as all are supplied by
international waters.
The subject is good one and
should be investigated. There is
no excuse whatever for the scarcity
of fish on the market in fish sec
tons.
While we are on the subject we
will also state that the State Game
and Fish Commission which annu-
ally kills carload of carp, (called
suckers here) are making a griev-
ious mistake in destroying this
fish after being caught. 1t is true
that one full grown carp or sucker
can devour a large quantity of
fish spawn and for that very rea-
son should be put out of the way
where possible. sA
But. why waste this valuable
food product. The carp IS tasty
fish and edible. The large number
of bones in the fish are his only
drawback. There are dozen or
more institutions in the state that
could utilize this fish and with un-
doubted relish. Why would it mot
be good idea for the Commission
to supply themselves with ice and
barrels on their spawn-t taking trips
and pack these suckers for ship
ment to state institutions and thus
give the inmates a chance to get
taste of fish at only the cost of
shipment. Many will not eat the
carp nor the pickerel but that does
not detract from the fact that there
are large sections of the country
where these only can be caught
and the people of these sections
relish them.
The annual waste of these fish
yearly amounts to tons and should
be stopped. The fish are good to
eat and should not be wasted.
In speaking of the fish for mar
ket question, Editor Koen of the
Biwabik Times has the following
to say:
If you make trip to the ex-
IRENE northern portion of the state
you will come into contact with a
sentiment-a strong unanimous
sentiment in favor of permitting
SEEMING in many of the lakes in
that section of the state.
The contention of the people
is that there is enough fish in these
northern waters to supply Mime
sofa with fish for a generation,
with SEEMING properly safeguarded,
and that it would be easy to replace
all fish taken out in three years by
planting more fry. The conten-
ton of these people is worthy of
notice.
The idea is that the game and
fish commission could prescribe a
net with mesh large enough to
prevent the small fish being canght
which would permit of the millions
of pounds of white fish, lake trout
and other fish that grow very large
being taken and marketed. But
the scheme is not to except any
fish of a certain size.
While these fish are being taken
out, argue the people up there, all
the lakes throughout the state that
have been fshed out should be
closed for three years, following
the planting of fry in large guam
titles. In three years pike and
other fish will spawn. In this
manner, argue the advocates of the
sein, the fish supply of the state
could be kept, up indefinitely.
Under existing conditions it is
impossible for man to legally eat
pike or bass not caught by himself
with hook and line, unless he
can find fish caught in internation-
al waters. And such fish are
generally so old that their food
value has departed.
The men favoring this plan are