The dams operate in still another way. We have considered hitherto only their influence upon the sea fish which ascend the rivers to spawn. Their effect upon the resident fish is quite as baneful. As the suckers, and the bass, and the cat fish, and dace, and trout, grow large, they naturally go down stream in search of deeper water and wider pools, where they get more room and better food. If they luckily escape the baskets and traps set for them in every dam, they never can get back. The streams are gradually sifted out and left tenantless. Little need be said of the manner in which ponds are drained dry in order to get all the fish in them, in which immense seines are hauled in little lakes, clearing out everything, great and small, of the use of explosives, lime, or _cocculus indicus_, in the work of wholesale destruction. The fact stands undisputed and undisputable, that in many parts of the United States the native fish are actually exterminated, and the mud turtles, muskrats and fresh water clams left as sole occupants. Even the harmonious bull-frog has been devoured by man, and only his diminutive cousins, the cricket frogs and hylas left—the aquatic choir can henceforth perform only soprano and contralto songs, unless the fish culturist finds some way of bringing back the basso whose obligatos we once admired. Oysters, scallops, and lobsters are going the same way. Although they live in free waters, they are stationary in their habits, and wholesale gathering will soon complete the work of extermination so recklessly begun. The forthcoming census reports on the fisheries will show conclusively the need of immediate protection. What is the remedy for these great evils? One hundred thousand men are actively engaged in the fisheries of the United States, and at least one fiftieth of the entire population of the country are, to a large extent, dependent on the fishery industry. Fish is the poor man’s food, for unlike any other food product it may be had for the taking. A fish swimming in the water has cost no man labor. There floats four pounds of savory shad, fifty pounds of nutritious sturgeon, a hundred barrels of whale oil; there lies a bushel of oysters, or a barrel of sponges. They are God’s gift, and man has only to gather them in, and possibly submit them to a very simple process of preparation, to be the possessor of a valuable piece of property. If the matter can be properly regulated, good fish ought to be sold in every town and village for two thirds or half the price of beef and pork. As it is, poor fish often cost more than beef and pork, and in many localities good fish can not be had at any price. It is a great problem in political economy, and one which we are, as yet, far from thoroughly understanding. We are confronted with the question, What can be done to neutralize these destructive tendencies? There are evidently three things to do.