| Show 14 mea IVA U 8 FISH STORY I 1 propagation of food fishes tho the procuring and hatching of eggs I 1 I 1 it I 1 is 1 d l by every one that the united states 0 government ik i put to much needless expense yearly by supporting up for ig enterprises that ire arc ot of no pr betie fit to its iti citizens cili zam ind and the hc ble purpose of which are aiu ai u to reate create to offices to satisfy hungry poli tic iciano ic ians but this charge can call ainaly not nofa be brought agnost tho the fish commission for few government institution exhibit a ii better record ot of good substantial results thaia llian this bure burc iu it is doing a service service tile the substantial benefits of I 1 each tle people direct the operations icilia of the united states fisli fish commission commission tomen ced in 1871 in ill pursuance of it a law lau passed february y V of that year which authorized mid and directed tile hiie appointment by the president of a commissioner to investigate gale the alleged diminution oi of food daish fish alons alona the file seacoasts sea coasts of the Atlantic Atlantie ana the lakes of the stites states audia aud if the report proved corie coned ct to suggest tile the proper method for ye resorting sorting the same A small ap appropriation wis hiis made and during the summer months of 1871 a station was purchased it at wood s hall i a village oil cape cod and at this point suitable suit ablo buildings vare were erected wid and ja a general and preliminary I 1 ary I 1 dea of the character chir acter of the coast and all Us its fisheries was secured and an important foundation laid for finally carh ing out the objects of af the res research earcil before the commission luis sion could be of any ally practical iise i thorough study ha lad to be made of the habits and waters of nil ail the species it drw proposed to propagate this took some time and tile ane bi acan 11 to that the new institution was only another useless department odthe of the government ern ment and would soon sink into innocuous desuetude but before long result 3 began to 1 I 1 shown aud and pubic interest was once more reawakened stations were gradually all established all ov over i er the country and tho work commenced in earnest grout great interest wild manifested about this time and during the next few amis yews i lerable difficult difficulty 11 wa ans i experienced perien ced iu in cillino fil filling lino the OLIS orders that ha were foiw aided to the stations the first hutching hatching 0 of fish in ili all countries china was ivas begun by prop propagating propagation agatin 0 the brook trout china wis was torme formerly aly said by missionaries and travelers to be far advanced in the art mid to have practiced it for many years but inquiry jim has shown that nothing has ever been done in that country beyond placing twigs in the tha water wafer to be re removed movell to other waters when the c egg of the carp sire ire found to have been deposited on them how longtoe long the chinee have done this is not known next to the united states and canada germany is ayr tar in advance of tiny iny other coil in the propagation ot of fishes fiz lies among tile first researches searches ie of prof bind B in d and his assi assistants sLants was the alie endeavor to fd ascertain the the ei cause r ii ii e of ali the e J decrease c of our marine food fishes especially the noble salmon ellich a few years ago had shown bown a re marka mark ablie blu dimio diminution cill the improved methods and apparatus par attl that lillye haw devised tor for obtaining the hatching eggs and 0 tile the young fisl fish I 1 during a few years past ILL high rank among the of theace the age 0 at A bucksport Buck sport IN maine faine after the c eggs s arc taken from the salmon cainion a mental tn tag W with ith a number on oil it is attached atta clied to a p portion of the first dorsal donal fin fill and when the fish is libera liberated teil a record cord is kept of the sex length weight and date of liberation fur for tile the purpose of showing its growth up lip I 1 to the time ci 0 second capture A reward is offered ered for the return of these tags with a statement of time of capture is weight eight of the fish ind and other information A female silmon salmon liberated at ill this point in ili november ako which 16 poti pounds lids lefteri was cauer caught lit two ty d yi nt ii if s la laar r and if id found to have biown logli i fout foot in length find and 0 od ed nearly nino iline pounds in ili wei weight glit the process ot of procuring 1 hadid I old liu hit d g and ancl propagating the eggs is an interest interesting ilir one and and is well va woith attention the work of collect collecting ino 0 tl alie ic spawn is confined exclusively to tile ves els of tho the commission commis ision these go to the various fishing graull ds at tile time the fish are sparil spawning ing and by means of the late latent t ain 1 seines and nets catch tile the igind kind of frill fish desired those d 1 rips only are arc used and all others are immediately thrown back the fish tire are then handled 1 by men who have nuch experience ili in tile bu business biness us as tins this is considered one ot of the most delicate operations operation of the he process tike take a had for in instance the operator ater tain aug P if tho nh fili is artl ripe 4 takes it lit in iiii rig eglit glit hand ila and placing tile tho head firmly under nuclei iiii his elbow cirrie carries lik his left hand carefully down illier either it lier side ar life fish fill front from gills to tail tile cep eggs drop into a receptacle 0 lat iw atlen b oen III provided and which is about liili billed with water L ihlen enough eggs me aie obtained I 1 the lie male le fish is then taken milk in ilk pressed from it aliee mas which operation perfects the im the figgs eggs water tind find lilt mill undisturbed for two or three hours i nil ilian tile are put hito othe the Oc mcdonald Donald hatching jirs jars J irs where tile they remain for ficia five to day daic 1111 when ell they nrc arc hatched and placed in the waters for which they inc fire intended intend ol the length of tini time cl aping between procuring tile tho aza agg and fleeing the fish ot of course diries with thi species the shad unlike many of his with deac a BC it sub fists for llie aliv first nine or ten tell days ot ita life but after lliott time it must luu st lie placed if ill its I 1 s future or it will die of starvation ta titis 16 is ii the c cle cise l e with meveral varieties but mail have to bu be kept in for months before they can cali be one naturally iks i ks titter niter read reading ilig 0 of this thib pro process why eliy natilla is ii not allowed to ue he her vur vura A and the C egg coi 0 oi allowed to lutch as they vi were ere i intended lit culled this may be it latif ictor ily answered by b saying a that the wafe male fish like in all it human futher father often its AS offspring offar III it wis was found foun 1 I by experiments S I 1 thai denu dunum I 1 1 I the spinning season tho the female would boull ala antim tin iti lowly about dropping her eggs egg upon any convenient let age or rock rhe file niale following her deposited deposit Pd amla mla upon the begga egga and they were livere left ID ti out outfit lit tile the proper thile liine but it VM oh ob berged that the in mule tic fish plad I 1 many ot of the hie eggland egg and the currents ilso also carried can aed many of them off before lie arrived thus thin millions were I 1 lost os t be id the great teat number devoured by othoe eli fish who it seems considered thein it a ireat great delicacy this is lie he cause of 0 the present system which obviates ninny many of the 0 O troubles alis lie e apparatus filp in ill uso use is ia ini prOVEd it is believed that eve itally every egg will wil be hatched and even evelt ili ii its pi present rent s taic but seven per cent at ire c lot lost I 1 hatched batched and TC randy idy for ship little fish are arc sent all over tha country in ili cars that ivert built expressly for hauling them there are now three of these cars inthe in the use of ilic commission for the transportation of tile the young fish from the various stations to the streams abere itis ilis proposed to deposit them theair the car isa home in itself fitted bith ith nil for biscof anso of the in charge while en route on either side of the car are arc the boxes in is aich the fresh cans calls ire arc put and ili in tile the kitchen it is n pump ind and blo blower it cr by means 0 of it circulation of water and air is sustained fur for supply to tile young fish in ili tile alic cans calls which are arc contic connected eted by 1 a I system of pipes and rubber hose lose permitted 1 I perfect circulation through then them around the cans fire arc ice boxes having a total capacity of pounds of ice and in ili each ice bog bo is a galvanized iron tank niti fresh aerated water wafer for supplying the abc IV waste asto through 0 the circulating BY system ii tho the pump is worked by a connection of belts bells placed on the car uli cels altogether the cats cars ire are the hie models els of od and entitle ino i i among its ils oilier prop propel city ly the commission own three splendid ste steamers a met 9 besides many man craft used for navigating 0 the inland waters tic ilie sten steamers are arc the lookout ail mid albatross the latter is used exclusively for scientific purposes and is a splendid iron vessel fitted up till with every known app apparatus for piscatorial cat ent orial investigations it has an all improved electric light fight plant ind and with its lid aid many important elseo Il seo crida have been mado made of tile my mysteries or of tile tiie deep the other vessels are arc used for collecting eg eggs 0 9 mul hatching liaU liing purposes find ha c all modern improvements for that purpose most people dinople imagine 0 that the work of the commission lle begins 14 ins and ends with propagation ani and distribution of fish and thi this s w was is tile the purpose for foe which it was established but 3 car alter after year its ils scope has increased and it is gradually taking a hand in ili ever everything y thin that lina hns any anny connection with fisheries no matter bow remote it jie even in antho alio line of its regular work ork it lias has become pot possible bible to do co a 0 good deal for tile lie advancement of adelice in ill general ener especially hit hal es into the natural history of aquatic ra belias ve lIas living either cither by tha ilia commission itself I 1 or by scientists to whom the fecili facilities lies of life service ire arc extended this part of the woric work can call biest be judged C by tile the magnificent and ili complete collections Icet ions W which haic been placed L in tile smithsonian institution sm smaller ni collections have also been distributed tri buted to many colleges and academies of the country mit with lithe the in most ost gratifying results 0 there 1 is no nothing thino which so much increases inc teases the interest ii ili natural his tory lory as the opportunity tunit of exa examining minin actual specimens of rare and usually species instead of descriptions script ions and drawings 0 this is being in more and more appreciated by teachers everywhere and ana the demands that are beina 0 made on oil the commission by various institutions can hardly be filled thus alius it will bo be sinn seen that aliat the work of the delart department of the governments enterprise is not wily only valuable to cot commerce elmerce and the fisli fish industries I 1 of the nation but has also licen been just its ins valuable if in I 1 giving i i in ci educational advantages on oil a subject which had not before attracted its deserved attention from our schools and colleges colleg c s another matter in ili which the commission has for some time interested terest te cd itself is the improvement in ili patt patterns eras of fishing craft of at all I 1 kinds there is annually a terrible mortality among the fishing Z crews cw En england englard glaud to say nothing 0 of the immense loss lose ot at valuable al klable property occasioned casio ned by old methods of boat buildt building nm the subject was brought to the attention of congress by T the lie new england and that body placed the ilic matter in linak tile the hands of the fisit fish commission making ilian appropriation for the purpose of constructing experimental vessels lie work vork of the hie comuti iston ill in ibis direction lias has been a perceptible cep tible change orllis battet ili iii the reported front from that section attention lias has also been paid to carrying and packing pa iliin P of chili and the introduction tro of d methodi of capture captured hilli ith satisfactory rebul results ts though all food dili fisa adapted to american have rel Lived mole or less attention to nt lit the hands of the commission only tile the most popular species have been cultivated to an any consid considerable crable cx extent tent part particular ethlar attention lias has been paid to german carp the while fish of the great lakes the had the salmon cainion nod the yari various otle kinds of trout the breeding ponds of the carp are arc situa situated telI at tile foot of the lie ia rqn onu at the capital about applicants hale haie been supplied this season ind and over from two to three inches in ili lell all hai leaie c been planted in public avat waters C Es these ih 1131 wr ie an fn ii gocr acaby ica by alic aw aisil are arc lic ife conling coming arry I 1 th the 0 distribution thus far in ili the year liis has every congi ess ional in ili tile united st stales ales und and anol more c than half the counties aiole han forty and ponds and if ill jalcs have been sto ked hith ith this thir species lit in many of which they ihry have bred of the white lili kyrc thau ilian have bebik placed in I 1 llie lie G great rel lakes this ibis eckson front to twenty alya millions bein being 1 placed I 1 in ill eail each shad hatchin is ii ducted on oil a larger scale llian ilon that of any other olber fish and with better belter results tic total production this early in life I 1 ason has bus reached which have been distributed 0 generally ener in our atlantic coast q braams breams I 1 reams and tributaries tributa aribu borics ries of fie ohio nu bixl ll 11 mi is sippi theril rivers thesbit the shad lish fisheries eries of the atlantic coast rivers have been improving ind and the aggregate aga regate 0 of llie life present year is ischo abo jarg largest pst since 1872 As als this lus species must reach the fresh waters of our rivers to spawn and as the present methods of fishing bisbing exclude the aish in III a measure f from roni tile spawning grounds wo we would naturally expect expect a rapid depreciation in these fisheries such us as was in batet in progress before the commission tried to briest it by arli nevial propagation and planting tle the steady and substantial increase in ili we value of these must be attributed to the ish fish cultural work ot of tile the the cost of production lias has also been c greatly belu reduced ca by improti improvements cements 1 methods and appa apparatus ralus at the potomac river stations shad haic been produced for every cent expended the principal stations of the commission inia sion ire arc situated lit at duckwort Duck port me where salmon are it bred orad at which i S A a trout breeding station at baird station cal cai also for trout at washington VaS hington U D 0 where almost every variety are anre propagated and planted and c the cent central ral stat station ton is located find and at woods mass I 1 ii where here tile biological biologiC at station of the commission for the study of mi m i rine life is situated here also iso the llie work of hatching codfish and lobsters is carried on ile of the |
