XVIII.— *REPORT OF THE TRIANA TRIP. 



By J. W. Milner. 



Dear Sir : I have the honor to report, with reference to the expedi- 

 tion among the fisheries of the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, that we 

 went on board the steam-tug Triana at 10 a. m. Tuesday, April 27. Our 

 party consisted of Mr. T. B. Ferguson, commissioner of Maryland ; Dr. 

 W. B.Robertson and Mr. Alexander Moseley, commissioners of the State 

 of Virginia; Dr. Pearson Chapman, of Baltimore, whose intimate 

 knowledge of the fisheries of the Potomac afforded us valuable aid; and 

 Mr. G. Brown Goode, of the Smithsonian Institution. The three latter 

 gentlemen left the steamer on the second day out, at Quantico, Va. 



We visited two localities on the Potomac River the first day; Gut 

 Landing, Md., fished by W. M. Elliott, being the first. This gentle- 

 man complained severely of the decrease of fish, and attributed it 

 largely to the drift-nets which have thronged the river for seasons past. 

 He said that the season was unusual in the marked decrease of herring. 

 We remained at this fishery an hour or more, conversing with the pro- 

 prietor and examining the species of fishes taken in the net. Very many 

 male Rock-fish (Roccus lineatus), measuring from 12 to IS inches, were 

 found to be ripe, but no ripe females were obtained. 



We next proceeded to Chapman's Point Fishery, Md., where a seine 

 haul was made during a rain-storm. Besides shad and the two kinds of 

 herring, constituting the bulk of the food-fishes there, we found, in the 

 net, Rock-fish, White perch (2[orone Americana); Yellow perch (Pcrcsi 

 flavescens); Sun-fish (Pomotis aureus); the Gizzard shad (Dorosoma 

 cepedianum); the Catfish (Amiurus albidus); the Bull-head (Amiurus 

 atrarius); the Mullet sucker (Ptychostomus aureolus); and in addition 

 twelve species, of forms too small to be marketable, and of which we 



* The work of shad-propagation for the Potomac, inaugurated iu 1673, was only 

 moderately successful that year, as the station at Jackson City, Va., was the only one 

 employed. Iu view of the proposed increase in the number of hatching-stations, it 

 became necessary to obtain a more intimate knowledge of the fishing-grounds, and by 

 the kindness of the Secretary of the Navy the steam-tug Triana was placed at my dis- 

 posal for a trip down the river under the direction of Mr. Milner. The commissioners 

 of Virginia and Maryland were invited to be of the party, as being directly interested 

 in the results; Dr. Pearson Chapman, of Baltimore, because of his knowledge of the 

 fishery-interests of the river and their history ; and Mr. G. Brown Goode, of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, because of his familiarity with the species inhabiting the river* 

 and brackish waters of the Atlantic coast both south and north. — S. F. Baird. 



