Railroads and the Development of Fish Culture in the United States

Abstract

The railroad industry was critical to several aspects in the development of fish culture in the Unites States. Without the assistance of railroad companies across the country, the U.S. Fish Commission and their state equivalents would not have succeeded in their efforts to save many species in the nation’s fish stock from total destruction. Railroads also instrumentally affected the development of sport angling. By making travel comparatively inexpensive, anglers from nearly all parts of the country were able to travel to locales that only a few years earlier they only read about. This promoted the public’s interest in fishing, helped build the industry that arose around this increasingly popular pastime, and by encouraging a larger segment of the population to discover and enjoy the outdoor sports, promoted the nascent conservation movement in the latter part of the 1800s.