REPOKT OF COMMISSIONED OK FISH AND FISHERIES. 57 



All of the o<j;<>'s were forwarded to the Detroit hatcher}^ ])y iiiean.s 

 of tug and wagon, it being necessary to hold over night those taken 

 at Grassy Island, but this was done without detriment. The number 

 of eggs shipped was 201,800,000, leaving 164,240,000 in the hatchery. 

 As the total number hatched was 1.35,000,000, it woidd appear that the 

 percentage was a little above 82, but in reality it was about 85 per 

 cent when allowance is made for the fact that a part of the eggs 

 shipped were e3'ed eggs. The season was I'ather earlier than usual, 

 the hatching period extending from March 23 to April 16, and the 

 distril)ution was made between March 30 and April 17 by means of a* 

 tug and two of the Fish Commission cars. The cars carried 27,000,000 

 fry in live loads, three of 6,000,000 each to Charlevoix and two of 

 6,000,000 each to Mackinac Cit}^ for planting in Lake Michigan. The 

 balance were deposited in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. 



Not only did the number of white-fish greatly exceed that of any 

 previous year, but the quality of the fry also greatly surpassed that of 

 an}' of the earlier efforts. This may have been due in part to the 

 favorable weather conditions, improved facilities, and expert manipu- 

 lation, but undoubtedly credit should be given to the liberal plants 

 made in the past in the Great Lakes. 



To relieve the overcrowded condition of the Northville and Detroit 

 stations, and also to comply with the Milliken act of the State legisla- 

 ture, which provides that the fry from 75 per cent of the eggs col- 

 lected shall be deposited in State waters, the Sault Ste. Marie hatchery 

 was used, and from the 16th to the 23d of November 5,000,000 lake- 

 ti-out eggs were sent there from Manistique. Of the 3,700,000 fry 

 which hatched from these eggs, 1,000,000 were turned over to the 

 Michigan Fish Commission and 2,700,000 distributed. The eggs 

 began hatching April 20 and it was not until May 10 that all had 

 hatched, the cold weather greatly retarding development, although 

 it apparently made the fry extremely hardy. The first plant was 

 made on May 19, and the last of the fry were liberated Maj' 31, the 

 work being done by messenger and tug. 



A shipment of 30,000,000 white-fish eggs was received at the Sault 

 Ste. Marie Station from Detroit on November 29th, 6,080,000 on Decem- 

 ber 28, and 10,000,000 on February 25, or a total of 46,080,000. The 

 first shipment was made when the eggs were green and the last two 

 shipments after the eggs were eyed. The product of the eggs resulted 

 in 40,000,000 fry, or about 86 per cent, the first hatching on April 10 

 and the last on April 29. With the exception of 2,000,000, which 

 were shipped b}' baggage car to Manistique, the distributions were all 

 made by boat. The first plant was made on April 15, and the work 

 of distribution was completed on May 1. A large proportion of the 

 fry were planted in Lake Superior near Whitefish Point and in Lake 

 Huron off Detour. 



