United States Fish Commission

“ And all the time, though the world is just coming to learn of it, the one unchallengeable paradise for big-game-fishing is Hawaii. First of all, there are the fish. And they are all the year round, in amazing variety and profusion. The United States Fish Commission, without completing the task, has already described 447 distinct species, exclusive of the big, deep-sea game-fish. It is a matter of taking any day and any choice, from harpooning sharks to shooting flying-fish—like quail—with shotguns, or taking a stab at a whale, or trapping a lobster. ”

“ Fortunately, there is a method of conserving our supply of fish and not only preventing it from growing less, but of greatly increasing the number and improving the quality. The United States government has a thoroughly well organized fish commission, and many states and counties and even private clubs carry on the same work, which is a general supervision of the fish supply. ”

“ Among the objects which the Commission hopes to accomplish are the continued acquisition of information respecting fresh-and salt-water fish; improvement of old methods and apparatus of fishing and the introduction of new ones; improvement in the pattern of fishing-vessels; to determine the extent and general character of the old fishing localities, and discover new ones; to improve methods of curing and packing fish for market; and continued increase in the supply of valuable fishes, etc., in the waters of the United States. ”

“ The station of the U. S. Fish Commission at Craig Brook was founded in 1889, on the same site where, in 1871, the first attempt at the artificial spawning of salmon in the United States was made. This site had been selected by the commissioners of fisheries of the States of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for that experiment because of its proximity to the salmon fisheries of the Penobscot River and the facilities presented for the maturing of the spawn that might be obtained. ”

“ The Fish Commission, created by the Government in 1870, proved an important agency in promoting the great industries of fishing and fish culture. At the World’s Fair it appeared that the fishing business had made progress greater than many others which were much more obtrusively displayed, though the fishtrap, the fyke net, and the fishing steamer had all been introduced within a generation.
In no realm did invention and the application of science mean more for the country’s weal than in agriculture. ”

“ Mass Marking of Ssalmonids The United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall, in carrying out its responsibilities to protect threatened and endangered species of salmon, implement a system of mass marking of salmonid stocks, intended for harvest, that are released from federally operated or federally financed hatcheries including but not limited to fish releases of coho, chinook, and steelhead species. Marked fish must have a visible mark that can be readily identified by commercial and recreational fishers. ”

“ The amendment, which made the provisions of the Act applicable to all game fish, was accompanied by Senate and House reports containing the following language:
'The bill is intended to supplement State laws applying to protection of game fish. * * * State laws become ineffectual when fish taken in violation of the law cross the State line. If we are to protect game fish, an important natural resource, the Federal Government must collaborate in the enforcement of protective laws and regulations at the point where State jurisdiction ends.' S.Rep. ”

“ We are inclined to think that it would be best to restrict the labors of the commission to the one department of propagation of food fishes. The "History of American Whaling" is no doubt very interesting and valuable, but it has no organic relation to the work of the Fish Commission. ”

“ Moreover, the period during which this amendment was passed was one in which both federal and state authorities were doing their utmost to encourage greater food production for wartime purposes. The main desire at this time was to increase rather than to decrease the catch of fish. Certainly the contemporaneous bulletins and reports of the Bureau of Marine Fisheries of California did not indicate the existence of any conservation problem due to an excess number of fishermen. ”

“ The business of fur-seal catching is carried on to some extent in the North Pacific and in Bering Sea by sealers from Victoria, but the returns show it to be a decreasing industry, as well as one causing friction with the United States. Indeed, no department of national life has caused more continual trouble between the two peoples than the fisheries, owing to different laws regarding fish protection, and the constant invasion by each of the territorial waters of the other. ”

“ The results of the early investigations by the Commission soon led to the institution of artificial propagation as the most feasible and effective form of aid that could be rendered by the Federal Government for the maintenance of the food-fish supply; and for many years fish-culture has been the leading branch of the Commission's work. Thirty-five hatching stations in twenty-five States were operated in 1900, and new hatcheries are established at nearly every session of Congress. ”

“ It was formed primarily to investigate the alleged decrease of food-fishes in the United States, but had added to its duties in its second year that of promoting the propagation of fish. It has accomplished much for science by prosecuting, or aiding others to prosecute, researches into the general natural history of marine animals and plants. ”

“ Available scientific information, catch and fishing effort statistics, and other data relevant to the conservation of fish stocks shall be contributed and exchanged on a regular basis through competent international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, where appropriate and with participation by all States concerned. States concerned shall ensure that conservation measures and their implementation do not discriminate in form or in fact against the fishermen of any State. ”

“ In the immediate neighborhood of Bayou-Sarah, on the Mississippi, are extensive shallow lakes and morasses; they are yearly overflowed by the dreadful floods of that river, and supplied with myriads of fishes of many kinds, amongst which trouts are most abundant, white perch, cat fish, and alligator-gars, or devil fish. Thither, in the early part of autumn, when the heat of a southern sun has exhaled much of the water, the squatter, the planter, the hunter, all go in search of sport. ”

“ Its law denying fishing licenses to aliens ineligible for citizenship, so the state's contention goes, tends to reduce the number of commercial fishermen and therefore is a proper fish conservation measure; in the exercise of its power to decide what groups will be denied licenses, the State has a right if not a duty, to bar first of all aliens, who have no community interest in the fish owned by the State. ”

“ The fish of the western rivers are generally less esteemed than those of the Atlantic waters; and in truth, fresh-water fish generally will not vie with those of the sea. The fishes of the Mississippi and its tributary rivers are for the most part coarse, tough, large and unpleasant in their flavor. ‘Except the trout, the small yellow cat-fish, the pike, the bar-fish and the perch,’ says Mr. Flint, ‘we do not much admire the fish of the western waters.’
Dr. Mitchell gives the following account of a gigantic fish of the ray kind, which he calls the oceanic vampire. ”

“ Anadromous Fish, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 88th Cong., 2d Sess., 11. The rapid depletion of the Nation's anadromous fish resources led Congress to enact the Anadromous Fish Act which authorizes federal-state cooperation for the conservation, development, and enhancement of the Nation's anadromous fish resources and to prevent their depletion from various causes including water resources development. ”

“ The right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the United States, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing, together with the privilege of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands: Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens. ”

“ Alligators will not appear till warm weather—that is, till the middle of January—by which time the tourists will think he has got into the dog days, but fish are abundant in all the fresh-water streams. In that very Juniper Creek we caught so many big-mouthed bass with fly and spoon that we not only gave up fishing, but had to salt down dozens. And, by the way, these fish are much more of game fish than they are at the North; the smallest fight well, take the fly freely and jump out of water as frequently and fiercely as the small-mouthed variety in our waters. ”

“ Whenever brought into competition with the like industries of other countries, our fishermen, as well as our manufacturers of fishing appliances and preparers of fish products, have maintained a foremost place. I suggest that Congress create a commission to consider the general question of our rights in the fisheries and the means of opening to our citizens, under just and enduring conditions, the richly stocked fishing waters and sealing grounds of British North America. ”

“ It employs chemists, botanists, entomologists, microscopists, and veterinary surgeons; and their labors can not but be fruitful of much good. Like it in aim, though working in a different direction, is the younger Fish Commission, which restocks our depleted waters, investigates the habits and food of fishes and the best modes of preventing their extermination, and literally creates new sources of wealth for the people. ”

“ Green, who, before we left, had established a personal bond of admiration and friendship from every darkey fisherman who brought his cargo there. We fed the turkey buzzards, we ascertained that the fish about Charleston were, in their various seasons, mostly sheepshead, bass, the drum of North Carolina and channel bass of Florida, Corvina Ocellata; sea-bass, here called black fish, which are mostly caught by the negroes outside the bar in their open boats; sea trout, our weak fish ”

“ It is astonishing that people do not see that the real reason for the scarcity of sea-fish is the want of protection for the brood-fish at spawning-time. I will not here repeat all that I said before on the subject, but I will say that as long as the salmon, trout, perch, and all fresh-water fish are protected by law at the spawning-time, it is extraordinary that our lawgivers cannot see the urgent necessity of protecting the cod, herring, haddock, and in fact all sea-fish, in like manner. ”

“ They not only deplete the streams of fish large enough to eat and destroy the source of supply but if the U. S. Fish Commission discovers that the law is not enforced and the fish not protected, there will be no free government fish placed in Cowley County streams. It is useless for the Government to spend thousands of dollars to keep the streams well supplied if a few outlaws are allowed to ruthlessly destroy them. ”

“ As a result of the great demand for fish, and the careless methods used by the thousands of men engaged in catching them, Nature unaided cannot keep up the supply. For the purpose of assisting her, strict laws have been passed in many states. These laws prohibit fishermen from stretching their nets or weirs across the streams so as to block the passage of the fish when going to their spawning grounds. ”

“ The Committee thought that it was proved beyond all doubt that there was a serious diminution of flat-fishes, particularly in the North Sea; that the ancient fishing-grounds were much depleted; that the evil was a growing one, and that in default of a remedy the consequences would be disastrous to the industry.1294 One of the causes of the diminution was found to be the vast destruction of immature 710 fish, the direct remedy for which, the Committee said, was either the prohibition of the taking and killing of such fish, or the prohibition of fishing within areas where small fish abound. ”

“ If the close times differ in adjoining states, fish will be killed in one and sold in the other; it is useless to attempt to forbid the catching of trout in Maine, if they can be eaten in New York. Pinnated grouse, killed on the western prairies where they are fast being exterminated, are sold openly in New York markets in consequence of their omission from the game law, during the entire spring, until the heat of the weather prevents their transportation. ”

“ In 1901 special legislation was passed, restricting the catching of oysters in contaminated waters except for bait.
In 1904 authority was granted to proper officials to develop the oyster industry by planting shellfish, or by close season.
In 1905 the Fish and Game Commission was authorized to expend a sum not exceeding $500 per annum for the investigation of the oyster, by experiment or otherwise, with a view to developing the industry.
The development of the oyster laws has been by a process of evolution. ”

“ As a matter of immediate public necessity, to relieve economic distress among individual fishermen and those dependent upon them for a livelihood, to conserve the rapidly dwindling supply of salmon in Alaska, to insure fair competition among those engaged in commercial fishing, and to make manifest the will of the people of Alaska, the use of fish traps for the taking of salmon for commercial purposes is hereby prohibited in all the coastal waters of the State. ”