Evening star., 1925-07-05

, The report goes a long way in
solving the problem of What's the
; matter with the fishing in the Po-
F.. tomac River?" OF course, there are
: many other elements that enter this
. question, and the following letter
. transmitted to The Star through
+ Mai. T. V Walker of 1901 Hobart
3, street, written by ]. W. Jones, a local
angler and conservationist, throws
considerable light on the matter
Conservation Essential
: st am submitting statement re-
Parding a subject in which many of
your readers are interested and the
subject deserves agitation.
I'VE read and hear of conservation
as regards natural resources, and
conservation appeals to all not COM
mercially interested in the resource
10 be conserved. Those interested
commercially seem to think that to-
day is the only time to be considered,
and devote their entire time to de-
veloping means whereby they may
bring under their control for COM
mercial purposes the entire remain
ing portion of the particular object
TO which their vocation may be de-
voted.
I'VE have heard of the extinction
of various useful birds and animals;
we hear rumors of the end of our
forests; we are told that the supply
of petroleum will soon be exhausted;
Z and we have very recently read much
about the ruthless destruction of va
rious kinds of game by over 100000
licensed butchers who claim TO be
sportsmen.
There is another feature that is
being agitated to some extent at this
time, but it's Importance does not ap
pear to be appreciated Reference is
made to the various salt water re-
sources. The oyster is actually re-
ceiving more or less attention. The
= crab is receiving attention from some
States and being neglected by others.
- Due to Neglect.
1.-The salt water fish are neglected
tly all in many respects, and the re-
suit is proving disastrous. A few
,N-ears since any one in a roWboat was
'rea sonably sure of a bountiful catch
of such fish. Even the many nets then
in use did not appear to reduce the
siipply. Then came the motor boat and
the facilities for reaching good fishing
grounds and utilizing various devices
were increased. The automobile made
possible and easy for people to go as
far as 100 miles or more for a week
end or days nShlng. IheSe amateur
fishermen catch more or less fish of
all kinds and sizes. Fish too small for
'consumption are thrown into the boat
and allowed to die. The only use to
which they are ever put is that of
making the catch look larger in a
pliotogra ph. The only fish returned to
the water are the toads, but they are
icing kept now to be used as bait for
crabs.
is"Formerly i there was no market for
lIndersize fish and they were thrown
hack by the commercial fishermen.
Recent immigration has included
people who will utilize fish of any
size and the dealers soon found it
out. Today, if you will visit the fish
houses at the wharf and on Louisiana
avenue, or the Ztands in Center Market
YOU will find scores of barrels contain
ing thousands of salt water trout and
other fish not more than 6 inches in
length. The salt water trout is becom-
ing scarce. If given opportunity, it
attains a good size. The little trout
previously mentioned. are very un-
satisfactory eating. The bones are
many ind prominent. 1t is doubtful
whether four of them will weigh a
pourI. Think of killing d fish weigh
ing one-fourth of a pound when the
same fish, if left alone. will weigh
from TO 10 pounds and occasionally
more!
Law Not Observed.
"why should the Government and
various States undertake to increase
the fish supply -, establishing hatch
=