PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1932 555 



are located at East Orland, Me., Edenton, N. C, Fort Humphreys, 

 Va., and Orangoburo:, S. C. The station at East Orland, Me., re- 

 ceives annually an allotment of Atlantic salmon eggs from the Cana- 

 dian Government, the quantity varying with the supply available in 

 Canada and the number of trout eggs which can be furnished from 

 the bureau's hatcheries in exchange. During the past year the sta- 

 tion received a million eggs and allotted approximately half of them 

 to the State hatcheries in Maine. Normal success was attained in 

 the incubation of the eggs and the distribution of the resulting fry. 

 It is reported that while the run of salmon in the Penobscot River 

 was not as large as in the previous year, an improvement over con- 

 ditions existing in recent years was evident and the fish taken were 

 of excellent size. The imposition of restrictions on commercial fishing 

 for this species, together with continued distributions of fingerling 

 salmon by the State of Maine and the bureau should result in a de- 

 cided improvement in the status of this desirable commercial and 

 sport fish. 



Adverse weather conditions at the Edenton station restricted the 

 collection of yellow perch breeders and curtailed the output of that 

 species to 4,500,000 fry. Though satisfactory catches of shad were 

 reported by fishermen in the lower portions of Albemarle Sound, no 

 shad propagation whatever was possible at Edenton, owing to an 

 entire absence of mature roe shad on the spawning grounds accessi- 

 ble to the station in its upper reaches. The Fort Humphreys station, 

 which comprises the principal shad hatching unit in the United States 

 at the present time, reported an average season in the propagation 

 of j^ellow perch and a distribution of 29,000,000 shad fry, this num- 

 ber exceeding somewhat the shad production of the previous year. 

 In cooperation with the State of South Carolina, the Orangeburg sta- 

 tion, primarily a pond-fish plant, conducted shad propagation at two 

 temporary field hatcheries at Jacksonboro and Yemassee, S. C. The 

 output of slightly less than 3,000,000 fry was practically the same as 

 the results of the previous year's work in these fields. 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN GAME FISH PROPAGATION 



Notwithstanding the vast area, the comparatively sparse popula- 

 tion, and the extensive stream mileage, the fish-hatchery work in the 

 Rocky Mountain section, both Federal and State, is proving a very 

 important factor in maintaining this part of the country as one of 

 the outstanding trout-angling territories on the North American con- 

 tinent. The importance of the Federal fish-cultural work is intensi- 

 fied by the tremendous acreage of the public domain, which includes 

 national forests, national parks, Indian reservations, and reclamation 

 districts, all of them depending heavily upon strictly Federal hatch- 

 eries for the maintenance of the fish supply in their waters. In addi- 

 tion to producing large numbers of fry, fingerling, and larger trout 

 for stocking Rocky Mountain areas, collections of eggs from wild 

 trout yield a surplus available for transfer to State and Federal 

 hatcheries in other sections of the United States, where the produc- 

 tion of domesticated eggs is impracticable and their purchase expen- 

 sive. The Meadow Creek substation, operated as an auxiliary of the 

 Bozeman (Mont.) station, is located in one of the most productive 



