BioLO(4i('Ai. SrRVEv — Ehie-Xia(;aka Watershed 11 



TABLE 1.— I'LANTLNGS OF FISH IN THE ERIE-NIAGARA WATERSHED, 1918-1927 



By reference to the table it is seen that the total trout plantings 

 for the ten-year period in this Avatershecl represent an average 

 annual plant of approximately 140,519 fingerlings. Compared 

 with the suggested stocking policy, this number is about 10,000 less 

 than has been recommended as a result of the survey. Obviously 

 the survey would disclose that some streams may profitably be 

 more lieavih^ stocked than in tlie x>cist, others less so according to 

 their capacity to absorb them. Unfortunately no data are at hand 

 on the catch in these trout streams. Such information is of special 

 interest to the angler and of importance in administration. In time 

 it will be forthcoming but only when local sentiment rises to the 

 occasion. 



Program of Erie=Niagara Survey. — Nature does not repeat 

 herself even in watersheds. Hence, the program requirements of 

 the different areas often demand a shift of emphasis or a broaden- 

 ing in scope to meet the exigencies of the situation. In the first 

 place, the Erie-Niagara watershed, as in the two preceding river 

 systems already surveyed, presented the usual problems of stream 

 study with the direct bearing on the development of a stocking 

 policy. Such are the studies that assist in evaluating the streams 

 in terms of the kinds of fish best adapted to the waters and the 

 numbers of young fish which may be planted annually in order to 

 utilize fully the natural food resources. Secondly, the shore front 

 of lake and river approximating 110 miles from the Pennsylvania 

 border to Lake Ontario introduced a variety and complexity of 

 objectives which tie into studies of both lake and stream. This is 

 the receiving area of contributions from the numerous inflowing 

 streams which influence its character physically and biologically. 

 It is also the zone of aquatic plants wdth the attendant population 

 of insect and other animal life including the vast numbers of min- 

 now^s and other fishes adapted to this region and which serve as 

 a source of food supply to many species of lake fishes. 



Thirdly, the extension of the State's interest beyond the limits 

 of the tributary systems and the lake frontage to the problems of 



