John J. Brice

John J. Brice (1841 – 1 January 1912) led the United States Fish Commission as the third United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. He served in the position from 1896 to 1898. Prior to his Fish Commission service, he was a United States Navy officer who saw action during the American Civil War (1861–1865).

Early life

Brice was born in Newark, Ohio, in 1841.

Naval career (1861–1895) American Civil War After the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, Brice joined the United States Navy as a volunteer officer with the rank of acting master's mate on 23 August 1861. He reported aboard the armed sidewheel gunboat in the Potomac Flotilla the same month. While he was deploying his men to receive their attack, eight or ten cavalrymen fell upon on his left flank, but he drove them off, prompting the rest of the Confederate force to retreat. He returned to the Pacific Station, by then renamed the Pacific Squadron, in 1878, serving aboard the screw sloop-of-war from 1878 to 1881.

Promoted to lieutenant commander on April 15, 1882, Brice returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard for duty from 1882 to 1885, then was aboard the screw sloop-of-war in the Pacific Squadron from 1885 to 1888. By direction of the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Marshall McDonald, Brice established an experimental fish hatchery at Fort Gaston in California. Brice went on to recommend the establishment of four similar fish hatcheries along the U.S. West Coast and in Alaska, with each of them, as well as the Fort Gaston hatchery, supported by four new auxiliary hatcheries.

Brice began duty as a lighthouse inspector in December 1892, then assumed command of the screw gunboat in March 1894. Brice relinquished command of Adams and went on sick leave in October 1894. He retired from the Navy on February 1, 1895, due to physical incapacity incurred in the line of duty. Brice had served a tour of duty with the Fish Commission during his naval career On March 30, 1896

By mid-1897, salmon egg production had tripled over that of previous years, and the Fish Commission also had made good progress in its efforts to support the lobster, mackerel and American shad fisheries. It also had engaged in efforts to introduce aquatic species of various kinds into new regions of the United States. The propagation and distribution of food fishes continued to increase substantially into 1898.

In 1898, President William McKinley appointed George Meade Bowers, a banker and politician from West Virginia, to replace Brice as commissioner. McKinley's decision sparked controversy: The New York Evening Post criticized McKinley for nominating candidates to the leadership of scientific agencies according to the incentives of a spoils system rather than for the scientific experience of the candidates, and the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial decrying McKinley's decision to replace Brice, arguing that Brice had performed well, that Bowers had no scientific qualifications for the position, and that McKinley was replacing Brice – who had been appointed by McKinley's predecessor Grover Cleveland – merely because of political considerations, which the Inquirer claimed had never affected the commissioner's position before. Although there was an outcry in support of Brice in scientific circles, McKinley went ahead with the appointment of Bowers on February 1, 1898, and Brice asked his supporters not to object to McKinley's choice. On February 16, 1898, Brice stepped aside and Bowers became commissioner.

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War broke out in April 1898, and Brice returned to active duty in the Navy with the rank of captain, serving as captain of the yard at Mare Island Navy Yard. He retired again after the war ended in August 1898.

Death

Brice died at the age of 70 on January 1, 1912, at San Francisco, California.