Hatchery Fish Car History

January 20, 2006 By: Marshall Cutchin

John Leonard wrote this well-researched, photo-illustrated retrospective on the use of railroad cars in the late 19th century to transport fish across the U.S. “In 1879, for example, [Dr. Livingston] Stone successfully shepherded a shipment of striped bass from New Jersey to California. During the lengthy train journey, the milk cans containing the fry were cooled by ice.” From CatskillArchive.com.
Of course at that time the prevailing opinion was “more species in more places is better.” (We now know that non-native fish displaced huge populations of other less-vigorous, now-endangered species.)