138 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISIT COMMISSION. 



Large wniTEFisn. — A short time ago T secured n. wintefisli weigh- 

 ing? 18 pounds. [Alexander McQueeu, inspector of fisheries, Winnipeg, 

 Manitoba, April 3, 1S8G.] 



Decrease in the fisheries of Malta.— Ilefen in g to page 400 of 

 the U.S. F. C. Bulletin for 1885, on the subject of tlie falling off in the 

 fisheries of Malta, I beg to state that when stationed there, as far back 

 as 1858 to 18G2, it was the general practice tor tishennen to use immense 

 seines, requiring from twenty to forty men to Ikihi tiioin in, and when 

 shot extending across the harbors. The mesh of the purses of these 

 seines was so small that the minutest fry could not ])ossibly escape. To 

 this I attribute the cause of the continual annual decrease of fish in 

 tliose waters. The same system is carried out in other parts of the IMed- 

 iterranean. [Capt. George Pittendrigh, JS^ew Westminster, British Co- 

 lumbia, June 21, 188G.] 



American catfish in France. — In his annual report on the doings 

 of the French National Acclimatization Society in 1885, the secretary, 

 C Raveret-Wattel, stated that during the year a valuable shipment 

 from Prof. S. F. Baird had enabled the society to attempt the acclima- 

 tization of the catfish of o^orth America {Amiurm nchnlosus). This 

 fish, ho said, merits special attention, in that it thrives in stagnant and 

 even muddy waters 5 and that, being liardy and of great fecundity, it 

 will be an excellent acquisition for stocking ditches and pools, where it 

 succeeds wonderfully, while the indigenous fish scarcely amount to any- 

 thing. [From the Bulletin of the Society for July, 188G, p. xlvi.] 



Medal to E. G. Blackford. — For several years now the society 

 has received- from the United States fertilized eggs of salmonoids 

 through the kind assistance of ]\Ir. Blackford. In 1885 a shipment of 

 the eggs of the rainbow trout {Salmo irldois) was received, owing to 

 his excellent co-operation. The society desires to return thaidvs to Mr. 

 Blackford for his services, and awards to him a. medal of the first class. 

 [From the Bulletin dc la Societe Rationale (V Accllmatation de France^ 

 Paris, July, 188G, p. Ixiii.] 



Planting landlocked sal^ion in Pennsylvania. — Mr. John A. 

 JTarper writes tTom Pittsburgh, Pa., June 2G, 188G, as tbllows: "I re- 

 cently idaced about 12,000 landlocked snlmon in the streams flowing 

 into the lake of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, in Cambria 

 County, Pennsylvania. The fish were a lively, healthy lot of little fellows, 

 each about 1^ inches long. Thej- were transported, owing to the special 

 attention given to them by Mr. BuUer, superintendent of the State hatch- 

 ery at Corry, from the hatchery to the lake with the loss of less than a 

 dozen fish. This seems remarkable, as the journey from Corry to the lake 

 is about 250 miles, and to accomplish it several changes of railroad cars 

 were made, and there was a three-mile haul over a very rough mountain 

 road, with boat and portage, to the small streams up in the woods. 

 The fish were hatched from eggs received from Maine early this spring, 

 by order of Professor Baird, and in response to a request made nioie 



