Evening star., 1928-05-27
Secretary Hoover Angling for Facts
On National Fish Culture Problem

human rights, the Declaration Of In
dependence, is firm that all men (and
boys are endowed with certain inalien-
able rights, including life. liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. which obvious
ly includes the pursuit Of fish. America
is a we'll Watered country, and the in
habitants know all Of the fishing holes.
"The Americans also produce mil
lions of automobiles. These coordinate
forces OF inalienable right. the auto
mobile and the call OF the fishing pole,
propel the man and boy TO search
of all the water within radius Of $50
miles at week ends alone. He extends
1t to radius OF 500 miles on his Sum
mer holidays. These radii of opera
| tions Of all these men and boys great
ly overlap. All of which has over
worked the fishing holes. and the time
between bites has become longer and
longer, and the fish have become wiser
and wiser"
1t was partly with a view TO test
ing. first hand, the efficacy Of his great
experiment with fish nurseries, as well
as hatcheries, that Secretary Hoover
closed his desk at the Department Of
Commerce recently and hied himself
to the faStneSses of the Pennsylvania
mountains. This seemed TO be an ad-
mirable opportunity to combine busi-
ness with pleasure, and he lost no time
in taking advantage OF it.
Just how many fish the Secretary
/ hooked on this expedition TO Williams
port nobody seems, TO know Hoover
| but just what this limit amounts 10 Is
not definitely known here.
| II Is certain. however, that the Sec
| retary was eminently pleased with his
| luck, and that the smiles which
| wreathed his face as he returned from
/ the expedition were in sharp contrast
| to the disappointed look which he wore
/ when returning from his many previous
( fishing trips, referred TO.
| Plainly, the experiment had proved
/ to be a complete success Uncle Sam
/ had vindicated himself n his unusual
/ role as a mother Of millions Of infant
/ fry from the hatcheries.
/ The prospects now are that the Gov
ernment will continue as permanent
/ proposition its mothering ministrations
/ to young game fish. The Government
| is operating about half a hundred
| hatcherieS at the present time. In
addition to these there are nearly 200
State hatcheries and some threescore
| private hatcheries.
/ x x +
| In these hatcher1es the mother fish
are given course in child welfare not
available to them in the wild stretches
of streams or lakes. They are taught
that their habit of laying their eggs In
| promiscuous places, where voracious
members of the hnny tribe may satiate
| their appetiteS on newly Matched fry.
| is the cause for the high infant mortal
| ity rate among her kind.
In the hatcheries the eggs are care
| fully protected in bottles and troughs,
and guarded against extremes In tenn
peraulre and attacks by invaders. Pre-
viously it had been the custom Of col
| Iecting the newborn babeS when they
| had heightened to half an inch, and
shipping them in railroad cars for dis
| tribution into the Nations streams.
| Under the new system the young
offspring are mothered by hatchery
experts until they are several inches
| long, and then they are sent out into
| the world to seek their fortunes.
| Their fortune. or misfortune, Ire
uuently lies at the end Of an mnocuous
string with attractive feathers and
other doo-dads tied on, for decorative
purposes.
This is not so good for the tish, but
| IL warns the hearts Of the fishermen,
and the latter are the persons who pay
/ the taxes and ought to De satisnec,
/ Hoover believes.