214 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



what kinds of fisli cau be procured on the various parts of the coast, 

 and the best seasons for taking them. 



Fresh-watee. fish. — A shipment of whitefish ova was received 

 from America in February last, unfortunately in a putrid condition. 

 These were forwarded through the courtesy of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, 

 the U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. A shipment of salmon 

 ova was received by the steamer Ionic in March last, and was distrib- 

 uted among certain acclimatization societies. I am glad to say that 

 this shij)ment turned out a success, in fact, the most successful, I be- 

 lieve, hitherto received in the Australian colonies. Some 200,000 eggs 

 were shipped, but only eight of the nine boxes arrived in good condition, 

 one having to be left out of the icehouse i)repared for the ova, there 

 being no room for it. Notwithstanding this, some healthy fry were 

 hatched out. I note that in Tasmania their most successful shipment 

 of salmon ova, received by the Yeoman in 1885, yielded 30,000 fry out 

 of 150,000<)va shipped, or 24 per cent, while those by the Ionic yielded 

 some 50 per cent of. healthy fry. The importation of these eggs and 

 the various steps that had to be taken in anticipation oi'. and alter, tbeh- 

 arrival in the colony were carried out under the immediate directions of 

 the Hon. Sir Julius Vogel, the commissioner of trade and customs. 

 The correspondence relating to the introduction of fish ova has been 

 printed, and will be presented to Parliament as a separate pa])er. 



I would submit, for consideration, whether the present ])ract,ice of 

 placing the young salmon fry in many different rivers is a judicious one. 

 It would appear to be more desirable to put all the salmon fry hatched 

 into one i^articular river, that river being selected, regardless of posi- 

 tion and district, as being the best salmon river, on account of the tem- 

 perature of water and other necessary conditions. When once salmon 

 are established in one river it would be only a work of time to get them 

 placed, at any rate, in most of the rivers in Middle Island [or South 

 Island]. In support of this plan, I quote the following paragrajjh from 

 the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries Report for 1882, p. Iviii, on 

 the subject of the artificial propagation of fish : " Failures have resulted, 

 in a large degree, from the limited scale on which the work has been 

 carried out. If the expectancy of destruction in a given locality be esti- 

 mated as representing one million young fish, and any number less than 

 one million be introduced tlierein, it is easy to understand that there 

 will be no result." This opinion appears to apply with singular force to 

 New Zealand, where several of the acclimatization societies are eager to 

 secure a share of the young salmon in order that they may be turned out 

 in rivers in various parts of the colony, some of which are entirely unfit- 

 ted for tlie salmon to thrive, or, perhaps, even to live in. 



Now that the Government has taken in hand the importation of fish 

 ova, I submit for (consideration whether it would not be desirable, in 

 the iiublic interest, to make some inquiry as to the operations of accli- 

 matization societies, especiallj^ in relation to pisciculture. So far as I cau 



