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fish and to use them for food only, that it seems that this valuable
resource has been more seriously and unnecessarily wasted than any
other.

Fish are wasted on inland streams in the following ways: (1) By
dynamiting. If a charge of dynamite be exploded on the bed of the river,
great numbers of fish, killed by the shock, rise to the top of the water
and can be taken. This practice was quite common at one time, but is now
prohibited by law in several states.

(2) By seining. A seine or net is placed entirely across the stream, and
all the fish which come down the stream are caught. In several states
seining is not allowed at all. In others it is allowed only at certain
seasons. And in still others the meshes of the seine must be large
enough to allow all fish below a certain size to slip through.

(3) By catching with a hook, (angling) more fish than can be used or
catching small fish and then throwing them away. This is a very common
custom among sportsmen, but should be prohibited by law. From a certain
small inland lake, it is said that during the entire season an average
of five thousand fish a day is taken. These are almost all caught by
summer residents, and it is unlikely that a large per cent. of them are
eaten. In a few years the lake will be exhausted, and will cease to
furnish fish for the people of the community, and there will, of course,
be no more fishing for the sportsmen. Equal waste is going on all
through the summer at every resort where good fishing is to be had. Some
states have laws regulating the size of the fish that may be caught and
the number that one person may take in one day, and all states should
have such laws.

(4) The worst waste of our fish is caused by turning large quantities of
sewage or refuse from factories into streams. All the fish for miles up
and down a river are often destroyed in this way. As we have seen, this
is only one of the bad results of allowing such refuse to drain into
streams; every state should have strict laws prohibiting it.

From the waters of the New England states more than five hundred and
twenty-eight millions of fish are taken each year. Here are the great
cod, mackerel, and herring fisheries. From the Middle Atlantic states,
the great region for oysters, lobsters and other sea food, come eight
hundred and twenty million more; one hundred and six million come from
the South Atlantic states; one hundred and thirteen million, including
the much so