The short-snout ice--fish, Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis Chen, is one of commer- cial fishes in lake Taihu. In the autumn of 1975 we carried out experiments in artificialfertilization and hatching of the fish in Taihu. As a result, we obtained 543 prelarvaeand 465 samples of the developing eggs. According to our experimental studies, it is proposed that the period from Octo-ber eighth to twenty--fourth may best be set as a prohibited period of fishing in order toprotect this fishery resource.