Evening star., 1925-02-08

of these licenses and S5 per cent OF
the fishing aphernalia-ipcluding
the fly rod. the bait caster and the
cane pole-were used in the pursuit
of bass.
If s18.000.0o0 in fees from fishing
licenses was received by the States
from persons willing to gamble on
catching a few bass from the de-
pleted streams of the country last
year, th ere is no telling just how high
| this source of revenue would be IL
the streams were restocked and
| guarded from the evils of the present
day.
Natural Home of Bass.
The Mississippi Valley Basin is
called the natural home of the bass.
and rightly so. But sometimes there
are two homes belonging to the same
party. and the Potomac River is
| surely the second home of tE mall
mouth bass. To Insure a COMPLETE
| restocking of this stream by lie
United States Bureau OF Fisheries, 1t
| Is necessary to have a closed season
in order to protect the young bass,
and proeect the bass we must, in spite
! of all obstacles. If every angler will
do his part toward fostering a closed
season, the combined efforts will re-
| move every obstacle that blocks the
| path for better fishing in the good
old Potomac.
Lay Many Eggs.
Scientific census takers of Uncle
Sam say the number of fish eggs laid
varies widely in different species. A
herring lays about $4,000, the stur-
geon about $4,000. the halibut as
many as 100000, and the cod has
been known to lay more than 5000, 900
a., The perils through which the yari-
Gus species of fish pass from the egg
state to maturity can be gauged by
| the number of eggs they spawn. If
all the eggs of a single female herring
! were to produce similarly productive
generations. in 10 years the oceans
would be oyerf1owing with herring,
and all the other creatures of the sea
| literally would be crowded out of ex-
| istence.
These same Government experts
have proved that if only three eggs
| from each female of each species
larly productive, fish life would null
tiply SO rapidly that the seas would
soon become vastly overcrowded
What does happen is that less than
one egg in two million in the cod
Produces a reproducing cod, and even
| in the herring less than one In ten
thousand successfully runs the gamut
tOI existence.
It is interesting to note that ma
ture's need for females in many spe-
cies exceeds the requirement for
| males. In the case OF the Conger eel,
| the ratio-is 10 females to every male,
and in that of the herring, three fe-
males to every male.
The perils fish have to face during
| their existence are innumerable. One
| authority estimates that only per
cent of the herring destroyed an
| nuaily by all herring enc mics in the
| world-fnd eheir.fate At the hands of
| man. The other So per cent are the
victims of whales, the porpoise fam
| lily, seals and other mammals, cod.
haddock, mackereI, sharks and other
fishes; gulls and other birds, and the
Thousand -and-one other enemies that
| lurk in their wake at every stage,
from the spawned egg to the adult
fish,
How large this toll OF the other
than man enemies of the herring
actually Is may be gathered from the
statement that man himself is credit
ed with an annual catch Of reariy
IL. .000, ,000,ee0 herring On that basis
over 100000, 100000 herring annually
fall victims to their enemies in the
60