» 

 146 APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 



In connection with the work of fish culture, much attention has been 

 paid to embryology. The breeding times and habits of nearly all of 

 our fishes have been studied, and their relations to water temperatures. 

 The embryological history of a number of species, such as the cod, shad, 

 alewife, salmon, smelt, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, white perch, and 

 the oyster, have been obtained, under the auspices of the Commission, 

 by Messrs. Brooks, Eyder, Scha^fler, Eice, and others. 



The introduction of new species, in water in which they were pre- 

 viously unknown, is of special interest to the student of geographical 

 distribution. Through the agency of the Commission the German carj) 

 has already been placed in nearly every State and Territory, although 

 the work of distribution has only just begun, and the tench {Tinea vul- 

 garis) and the golden orfe {Idus melanotus) have been acclimated ; the 

 shad has been successfully planted in the Mississippi Yalley and on the 

 coast of California, and the California salmon in the rivers of the 

 Atlantic slope. The marsena, or lake whitefish, of Europe, has been 

 introduced into a lake of Wisconsin. It is not my purpose to speak of 

 the great success in restocking with shad and salmon several rivers in 

 which the supply was almost exhausted, and in planting the Schoodic 

 salmon in numerous lakes. By an act of international courtesy, Cali- 

 fornia salmon have been successfully introduced into New Zealand and 

 Germany. The propagation work has increased in importance from 

 year to year, as may be seen by the constant increase in the amount of 

 the annual appropriation. A review of the results of the labors of the 

 Commission, in increasing the food supply of the country, may be found 

 in the annual reports ; the rude appliances of fish culture ten years ago 

 have given way to scientifically devised apparatus, by which millions 

 of eggs are hatched where thousands were, and the demonstration of 

 the possibility of stocking rivers and lakes to any desired extent has 

 been greatly strengthened. This work was for six years most efficiently 

 directed by the late Mr. James W. Milner, and is now in charge of 

 Maj. T. B. Ferguson, also commissioner for the State of Maryland, by 

 whom has been devised the machinery for propagation on a gigantic 

 scale, by the aid of steam, which is now so successfully in use, revolu- 

 tionizing the art of fish culture. 



The investigation of the statistics and history of the fisheries has 

 perhaps assumed greater proportions than was at first contemplated. 

 One of the immediate causes of the establishment of the Commission was 

 the dissension between the line and net fishermen of Southern New 

 England with reference to laws for the protection of the deteriorating 

 fisheries of that region. The first work of Professor Baird, as Commis- 

 sioner, was to investigate the causes of this deterioration, and the report 

 of that year's work includes much statistical material. In the same 

 year a zoological and statistical survey of the Great Lakes was accom- 

 plished, and various circulars were sent out in contemplation of the 

 preparation of monograj)hic reports upon the special branches of the 

 fisheries, some of which have already been published. 



