Alexandria Gazette

THE FISHERIES.—The Washington Sunday Herald thinks that the Potomac fisheries will be a failure this season, and that the catch of fish is appallingly decreasing. The season is from the 15th of March until the 1st of June, but sufficient time has elapsed to show that the probabilities are against a prosperous year's supply. There was every indication in the beginning of the season of a fine run of fish, and the disappointment will be severely felt if this trade should even partially fail.

Few know the extent of the herring fisheries. From thirty to forty millions of herring are caught annually in the Potomac alone. It is a stirring sight at the landing in the height of the season. The fishermen take the heavy seine, half of it in one boat and half in another, and rowing out from shore let it down, and bring the end ropes again to shore. Then the windlasses at each end of the seine shore lines begin to haul in, and soon, leaping and struggling, the mass of fish—herring, shad, perch, all varieties and sizes—come to shore, and the women, knife in hand, come down upon them. It is a picturesque scene; but it is more than this, it is a profitable industry, and its failure would entail serious loss. More stringent laws are needed to protect these fisheries, and save the fish from wanton destruction.