Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 205, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1917 — The Kankakee Giving Up Countiess Tons of Food Fish. [ARTICLE]

The Kankakee Giving Up Countiess Tons of Food Fish.

Kentland Enterprise. Here,-'where the dredges are sapping the last mile of the “wildest river in the central west” and turning its winding miles of natural beauty into a ditch, an experident in food conservation has been carried out to a successful conclusion during recent montha... Eugene C- Shireman, Indiana’s state commissioner of fisheries and game, has demonstrated clearly that there is a tremendously big supply of food in Indiana—and in other states as well—that has almost been overlooked by the hosts that have been seeking to add to the food supEly of the United States. And the est part of the whole thing is that the experiments thus far conducted, and the known rules of acquatic life, point to the fact that the new source of food supply that is open in this state and others is almost self-per-petuating. In brief, the experiments here—and at some Indiana lakes —have shown that coarse fish, existing in abundance, can be taken from the streams and lakes without injury to the game fish therein and sold in immense quantities, if need be, at as low as 5 to 6 cents a pound. For days, wardens under the command of Rod Fleming, have been ■fishing. And their catch has been the mightiest ever taken from the stream. They have been handicapped by lack of equipment, lack of marketing facilities, and even criticism from those who did not understand the purpose of their work. But, with these handicaps; they have made the fishing pay the state from a financial standpoint, and if the time comes when the people of Indiana are hard pressed for food, there is a mine of' food here on the Kankakee. In one live box, for instance, there were 2,000 pounds of fish, the product of a week’s fishing with only eight wing nets. Mr. Shireman, if he carries out his present plans, will have fifty such nets working in the Kankakee. Fish will solve the meat problem, if the people of the state will take up the idea and use it. Gov. Goodrich has approved the plans of Mr. Shireman. The food fish being taken from the Kankakee are German carp, dogfish, eatfish above six pounds in weight, and turtles. The last two named find a ready market anywhere that the state commissioner has sought to sell them. The former two would find a much more popular market if the people of the state were acquainted generally with their good qualities. The remaining problem is the marketing problem. Some scheme will have to- be worked out that will bring the fish to the consumers’ door at the least possible cost.