Preface 



The most recent Fish Cultural Manual published by the United States Fish 

 and Wildlife Service was authored by Lynn H. Hutchens and Robert C. 

 Nord in 1953. It was a mimeographed publication and was so popular that 

 copies were jealously sought by fish culturists across the country; it soon 

 was unavailable. 



In 1967, the Service's Division of Fish Hatcheries began to develop a 

 Manual of Fish Culture, with J. T. Bowen as Editor. Several sections were 

 published in ensuing years. Efforts to complete the manual waned until 

 1977 when, due to the efforts of the American Fisheries Society and of the 

 Associate Director for Fishery Resources, Galen L. Buterbaugh, a task 

 force was established to develop and complete this publication. 



As task- force members, our first business was to identify the audience for 

 this publication. We decided that we could be most helpful if we pro- 

 duced a practical guide to efficient hatchery management for practicing 

 fish culturists. Research and hatchery biologists, bioengineers, and micro- 

 biologists will not find the in-depth treatment of their fields that they 

 might expect from a technical publication. For example, we offer a guide 

 that will help a hatchery manager to avoid serious disease problems or to 

 recognize them if they occur, but not a detailed description of all fish 

 diseases, their causative agents, treatment, and control. Similarly, we out- 

 line the feed requirements and proper feeding methods for the production 

 of healthy and efficiently grown fish, but do not delve deeply into the 

 biochemistry or physiology of fish nutrition. 



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