50 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



for the month preceding and during^ the spawning time than in any 

 year since the establishment of the station. With a few exceptions 

 the bass finished spawning two months earlier than usual. But few 

 eggs were deposited by them in any of the ponds as compared with 

 former years, although the output of young fish was much greater, 

 owing to improved facilities, a larger stock of brood fish, and an earlier 

 distribution. 



Pond culture at this station is still in the experimental stage, as the 

 conditions here are not the same as those existing at other stations. 

 The chief difficulty presenting itself is that of fish food. Very little 

 aquatic or plant life is found in the waters under natural conditions, 

 and it is difficult to make the introduced plants thrive and thereby 

 increase the amount of natural food by the development of aquatic 

 life which would naturally follow. The output of black bass finger- 

 lings has, however, been much greater than in previous j^ears, and it 

 is expected that the product of the station can be annually increased 

 for several years to come. 



The young bass removed to the fry ponds were fed on chopped fish 

 raised at the station, and no mortality resulted from what appeared to 

 be convulsive fits, which caused an alarming mortality last ^^ear when 

 the young fish were fed upon salt-water mullet preserved by some 

 apparently injurious chemical. By careful sorting cannibalism was 

 reduced to a minimum throughout the season. The product of the 

 station in fingerling fish is recorded as follows: Black bass, 13,310; 

 bream, 17,350; speckled cat-fish, 5,850. At the close of the jear the 

 stock of young fish on hand available for distribution as fingerlings is 

 estimated as 5,000 bream, 40,000 cat-fish, and 10,000 black bass. There 

 are also on hand a few hundred calico bass. 



Put-in Bay Station, Ohio (S. W. Downing, Superintendent). 



In addition to various minor repairs at the station the wharf was 

 rebuilt to the water's edge and covered with 2-inch oak plank; the 

 channel and harbor were also improved by dredging the channel to a 

 depth of 9i feet and widening it 25 feet. This enlargement gives 

 ample room for the crates used for holding the white-fish penned during 

 the spawning season. 



In the fall the work of collecting eggs of the white-fish was pushed 

 at all the fields customarily operated from the Put-in Bay Station. On 

 October 20 a crew of men was set to work at Monroe Piers, Michigan, 

 and two additional rafts of 5 crates each were constructed, making a 

 total of 30 crates available. On this shore the prevailing winds were 

 unfavorable throughout the season, and but 6,627 fish were received 

 at the crates, a few more than one-half the number penned at this 

 point the previous year. Part of these were penned in October, and 

 the temi)craturc of the water during the latter part of the month was 

 so high that a large number of the fish were returned to the fishermen 

 before spawning commenced. As a f urthei' result of the warm weather 



