Evening times-Republican., 1914-02-19
STATE GAME WARDEN hlNShAM
POINTS OUT VALUE OF WA
TIERS OF STATE.
sPoRrsMEN NOT SOLE
eENEFIclARiEs OF FISH LAWS
One Hundred Sixty Acre Lake Pro-.
duees More Food Than Quarter Sec.
Figures to Substantia ate claims-cost
Of Protection Comparatively Small.
pecial to Times-Republican.

Special to TineS-Republican.
Des Moines, Feb. 1e.-Those who
object TO the policy which the state Of
Iowa is following in the matter of ex-
penditure of the funds in the state
treasury derived from the hunters
licenses solely TO protect and encourage
game and FISH and TO develop the in
land waters and lakes of the state for
fishing purposes. should sit at the feet
OF T. c. Hinshaw, state game warden,
and hear him expound the logic Of the
policy. While others have talked and
promised and resoluted it. Warden
Hinshaw has been doing things for the
benefit of the hunters and fishers OF
the state.
Mr.. Hinshaw has the courage to well
come debate as 10 the relative merits
of the FISH pond and the feed yard as
elements in cost OF living. He can
show conclusively that as a producer
OF food FOR human consumption 100
acre lake is worth more to the people
than a 16o acre pasture or cornfeld.
Lakes Supply Food
The people DO not fully understand
the value of a lake in supplying food"
said Mr.. Hinshaw the other. day. Il
think l have been conservative in my
estimates and Yet l can show some
startling results OF a comparison a. to-
raising fish and beef. l think ii is
fair 10 say that your beef producer
does well to get an average yearly
production OF 250 pounds of beef per
acre of his land. Now an acre OF wa
ter. Of good depth. will suffice as the
home for 5000 black bass. They wifi
gain third OF a pound each year in
weight which means 1855 pounds per
year of fish en- acre, worth 1924.
That is allowing eight and third
square feet OF surface TO FISH. which
is more than fish needs if there is
some depth 10 the water. Under proper
conditions II will not cost a quarter as
much to produce the fish as to pro-
duce the beef
Some interesting facts may be de-
duced from our actual work with the
fish in Iowa, as showing what we are
doing and the possibilities of the in
custry even here. Last season we took
out OF the sioughs and bayous along
the rivers and transferred TO deeper
channels SO that they would survive
over three million fish. These are fish
that would Otherwise probably have
peTshed out for this work Of the state.
Before another season these hsh ought
TO average in weight a pound each.
Ihey are mixed fish which at even 10
cents pound are worth 100000. Yet
their protection was accomplished at
cost OF less than $1,000 Who Will
say that this expenditure was not we'll
placed?
Not Merely Sport.
"No- many people realize the sub
stantia! benefits Of the fishing that is
now being done at Our lakes They
look upon it merely as sport and
nothing more. Far from it. For in
stance. at the Okobojis there was dur
ing the best of the season about $50
boats in the fishing. They averaged
at very conservative estimate. twenty
pounds Of fish a day in the height of
the season. Those fish are worth -
cents pound which makes $3.50
worth taken out a day. For the thirty
days Of the season the catch is worth
sl0.soo. This leaves the other months
when fishing is not quite so good to
be reckoned with. Yet this result is
only quarter what nigh, be if in
the past few years there had been
proper care and encoura cement for the
dsh in these beautiful lakes. So the
money value Of the catch is big ele-
rent though Of course not worth so
much as the benefit from the outing
and the sport Itself
Il is in the development of this policy
that much is yet 10 be done for the
and p9r1e n+ The state