The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-16
STATEWIDE FISH LAW MEANS
MUCH TO NORTH CAROl INA
federal Government Glad Now to Help Make Fishing a
Efforts-Many Good Things In Store. " -''

~ marked with buoy and others
Will be marked within the next few
months.
ihe blackfish. or sea bass. is the
principal fish taken in these off-shore
tIouhos. tI They are Of large size and
Wnen the supply is small and the
catch valuable. Motor boats find no |
uHnculty IN making the trip to and |
from the grounds. the principal draw |
oack being the lack of buoys or other |
marks locating the grounds.
DIR. Pratt "Iive One"
Inc bureau of fisheries officials
passage of the North Carolina law.
Tor they have co-operated for several |
years with the legislators swho have
attempted to get fish legislation. DR..
moore has several times ACCOMPANIED
ieslSlatlVe committees in trips
through the North Carolina waters
where fishing conditions were obsery-
ed at first hand. They knew, too, of
the ef1cient and tireless work of DR..
Joseph Hyde Pratt. Of Chapel Hill. in
the interest of the law Dr.. Smith
speaks of him as "a live one" and is
most enthusiastic about his work in
science as well as his connection with
roads movements.
DR.. Smith Tells of Fight.
An interesting history from the
viewpoint Of outsiders Of the fight in
North Carolina for fish conservation
| laws is contained in the last annual
| report Of DR.. Smith. 1t is an effective
| argument for a Statewide protective
| law and gives the scientific facts on
which pleas for such law were made.
| The extract is as follows:
| The history of the fisheries of
North Carolina is sifpilar to that of
most other communities in which the
! regulation Of the industry has been in
| obedience to local demands, preju-
dices, and jealousies rather than based
| on broad principles having in view
the interests Of the State as a whole
and proper regard for the future
welfare of both the fisherman and the
consumer, There was at first a grad
ual increase in the yield, owing to the
growth of markets and the improve
ment Of means of transportation, the
demand thus stimulated resulting in
an increase in the number of persons
and the quantity Of apparatus en-
plOyed. For period this increase in
the intensity Of the fishery had no
very conspicuous influence on the ap-
parent abundance of the fishes, the
effects being further obscured in the
view Of the fishermen by an increase
in the unit price of the products, due
to broader markets. Eventually,
| | however, the decrease in the fishes
) began to manifest itself in the catch
and this was most conspicuous in the
more desirable and higher-priced
species like the shad. From 1880
the earliest year for which data are
5 available, the catch Of this species
gradually increased under the opera
: tion Of the factors just mentioned. but
after attaining the0999 ingm< bnt:
after attaining maximum about
, 1897 it declined rapidly and in 1903
h0 1,S,lr 10 hn o1 Of LtS.
: sentially the same conditions obtained
I with respect to other species, al
r though the catch Of food fish as {
r whole was well maintained because
. many Of the cheaper fish, justly or un
justly regarded as inferior, which il
the earlier period were but little util
: ized at a later date came into greater
demand and found a market which
the fishermen could supply with
3 profit
n About the time the decrease in th'
s shad became critical and was lmpOs
o Of the fishermen. an inquiry was in
! Stituted by the Bureau of Fisherie:
= which demonstrated that the most i'm
, portant. if not practically the sole
" cause of the decrease was the exces
: Sive use OF fishing apparatus of al
kinds. fished prOmiscuously in the IN
q let's, channels, and sounds SO as to eff
" fectually block the passage of tn
o Shad and other anadrOmous fishes t.
n their spawning grounds.
The Vann Law Helps.
Moved by consideration of thes
IS facts, the Legislature Of North Caro-
e lima. in 1905, passed an act, popularl
q known as the Vann bill, which pro
a hibited fishing in certain Of the inlet
le leading from the sea to the sounds
e. and restricted the use Of pound net
20 in the upper part of PamlicO Scum
W and all of Croatan, Roanoke, and Al
/ bemarles Sounds to certain prescribe
Al zones. AS amended in 1909, this ]a'
m now preserves from all nets a stri
xt Of varying width extending from tn
e ocean inlets to and up the rivers dis
charging into Albemarle Sound.
There is thus created q brOa
1e avenue in which the shad and othe
ay anadromOus fishes may travel withol
Ia | obstruction from the sea to the