VIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



While the division reports describe the work in detail, attention may- 

 be called to the progress made in fish propagation, and to some of the 

 more important investigations and canvasses carried on by the Divi- 

 sions of Inquiry respecting Food-fishes and of Statistics. 



DIVISION OF FISH-CULTURE. 



The operations of this division were in many resj)ects more important 

 than in any past year, owing in part to the natural growth of the work 

 and in part to greater efficiency in dealing with the various questions 

 and problems that come up for consideration. 



The propagation and distribution of food-fishes during the present 

 fiscal year exceeded by about 40 per cent the work accomplished in any 

 other similar period. The number of adult and yearling fishes, fry, and 

 eggs distributed in public and ijrivate waters or transferred to the State 

 authorities was about 857,000,000, of which the largest number rep- 

 resented important commercial species, like the shad, cod, whitefish, 

 salmon, lake trout, herring, pike i)erch, and lobster. There were 33 

 hatching stations and substations in use, the one located at Erwin, 

 Tenn., having been completed and placed in operation in addition to 

 those mentioned last year. The steamer Fish Hatch was also utilized 

 for shad-hatching in Albemarle Sound and the Delaware River. 



A comparison of the output for this year with that of last shows a 

 marked expansion in the hatching of shad. Pacific salmon, and cod. 

 The extension of the salmon-hatching work on the Pacific coast was 

 esiiecially gratifying, as the enormous annual drain on the salmon 

 streams of that region makes it very important that the supply should 

 be kept up by artificial means. At the substation situated on Battle 

 Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, the largest collection of 

 salmon eggs (48,000,000) in the history of fish-culture was made in the 

 fall of 1897. 



Although there are several desirable species of salmon in the Pacific 

 rivers, the Commission gives its principal attention to the chinook 

 or quinnat salmon, which is the species most desired for canning and 

 fresh consumption. Some light has been thrown on the results of 

 fish-cultural work on the west coast by the recent capture of a consid- 

 erable number of large salmon with the soft dorsal fin missing. These 

 are fish that were liberated from the Government hatcheries about three 

 years ago, when they were less than a year old, after having been 

 marked by the removal of the adipose fin. The work of the Commis- 

 sion is very popular in the West, and its value is generally recognized 

 by the salmon fishermen and canners. 



The wall-eyed pike or pike perch, Stizostedion vitreum, is one of the 

 most valuable of the fishes of the Great Lakes. In Lake Erie, where 

 by far the largest part of the catch is taken, it ranks first in money 

 value. The fishing interests being desirous that the Government should 

 keep up the supply, the propagation of this species, which had been 

 discontinued for several years, was resumed in the spring of 18U8 at 



