PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1927 703 
AFoGNAK (ALASKA) STATION 
[FRANK L. Snipgs,' Superintendent] 
This station handles sockeye salmon mainly, although smaller numbers of 
humpback and steelhead salmon also are collected. An escapement of 22,250 
sockeye salmon was counted through a rack into Letnik Lake, or virtually double 
the escapement of the previous season. Egg collections from this run amounted 
to over 21,000,000. During August a run of 4,626 humpback salmon made their 
way to Letnik Lake and enough fish were taken below the rack to furnish 4,212,000 
eggs, all of which were shipped to the Puget Sound stations. Over 1,000,000 
steelhead eggs were forwarded to the same destination. Destruction of Dolly 
Varden trout was continued, and approximately 100,000 of these predacious fish 
were accounted for in the course of the year. The results of the campaign of the 
past two years against them have become quite noticeable. 
Yes Bay (Ataska) Srarion 
[J. L. GARDNER and A. T. Loorr, Superintendents] 
During part of the fiscal year this station was without a superintendent, being 
in charge of an employee attached to the Clackamas (Oreg.) station. Chinook 
salmon exclusively are handled here, although a shipment of 60,000 brook-trout 
eggs was received for incubation. The collection of over 30,000,000 sockeye eggs 
represents almost half of the bureau’s total take of that species. Low water 
during the fishing season and a sudden rise at the close probably prevented 
the securing of at least 10,000,000 additional eggs. Twenty million salmon eggs 
were hatched at the station; the remainder were shipped away or lost through 
normal mortality. Whereas on July 1 of last year only 2,892,000 fingerkings 
were being carried over for feeding, the close of the fiscal year 1927 found 10,473,000 
on hand. This is indicative of the attempt to make the work at this station 
more effective by rearing a larger proportion of the stock to larger size. The 
fry are carried through the sac stage in stacked trays very successfully. This 
system lessens the amount of attention and care that must be given to the fry. 
Five thousand fish are held in each tray. A campaign was waged to eradicate 
the predatory Dolly Varden trout. The practice of liberating fingerlings in the 
feeding ponds, from which they can work their way gradually into the lake and 
become adapted to new conditions by degrees, was continued. Condemned 
canned salmon and salted salmon were used successfully as food. The cost of 
this material varies from 14 to 4 cent per pound. 
BakeER LAKE (WASH.) STATION AND SUBSTATIONS 
[JOSEPH KEMMERICH, Superintendent] 
This important group consists of five permanent stations and one egg-collecting 
station at Walcotts Slough near Brinnon, Wash. Steelhead trout and all species 
of Pacific salmon except the humpback were handled. Weather and water 
conditions were unusually favorable during the past year, but in several cases the 
run of fish failed to meet expectations. The run of chum salmon in the Hoods 
Canal region was an exception, however. A light run of sockeye salmon occurred 
in the Baker River, and, in addition, numbers of fish were injured in being carried 
over the dam at Concrete, Wash. Consequently only 2,823 fish were caught in 
Baker Lake for the work at the Baker Lake station. Egg collections from all 
points totaled 34,743,800, an increase of more than 8,000,000 over those of the 
previous year. In addition, numbers of eggs were transferred for incubation 
and distribution from points outside this field. 
Baker Lake (Wash.) station.—Since the submission of last year’s report, the 
combined fish ladder and elevator in the power dam at Concrete, Wash., has been 
put in operation. In the fiscal year 1926 practically no fish reached Baker Lake, 
but 2,823 sockeyes were taken at that point during the past year. It is believed 
that the total run amounted to about 4,000 fish, and a comparison of the figures 
will give an idea of the effectiveness of the device. The discrepancy between 
4,000 and 2,823 was due largely to injuries received by the fish in making the 
ascent. Other species that entered the ladder, such as the chinook and silver 
salmons, apparently were put over with less tendency to injury, and the per- 
centage of the total run that surmounted the dam probably was greater. So far 
as can be observed, the passage of the fingerlings downstream over the dam is 
