REPORT ON THE PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF 

 FOOD-FISHES. 



By W. i)K C. Ravenel, Assistant in Charge. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The operations of the Division of Fish-culture during the fiscal year 

 were more extensive and important than ever before. The number of 

 eggs, fry, and adult fish distributed was 857,509,546, the majority of 

 which represent the important commercial species, such as the cod, 

 shad, whitefish, quiunat salmon, lake trout, herring, pike perch, and 

 lobsters. 



Following tbe general lines adopted the previous year, the propaga- 

 tion of the quinnat salmon, the most important of the Pacific coast 

 fishes, was conducted not only at Battle Creek and Baird, in the Sacra- 

 mento River Valley, and on the Clackamas, Salmon, and Little White 

 Salmon rivers, tributaries of the Columbia, but a temporary station 

 was established and operated on the Eogue River and the hatchery on 

 the Siuslaw River was reopened. Arrangements were also perfected to 

 collect salmon eggs at the headwaters of the Clackamas River, wliere 

 the spawning-beds of the early run of fish entering that stream in April 

 and May are found. The results at the Battle Creek and Little White 

 Salmon stations were even better than had been anticipated, over 

 62,000,000 eggs being taken at the two points. The fish resulting from 

 the collections made at all of the stations were liberated in streams on 

 the Pacific coast, with the exception of 6,000,000, which were trans- 

 ferred to eastern stations to continue the experiment of acclimatizing 

 the quinnat salmon in the coastal streams of the Atlantic Ocean. 



Encouraged by reports of the capture of steelhead trout in tributa- 

 ries of the Great Lakes, as a result of plants made by this Commission 

 two years ago, 750,000 eggs of this species were sent to stations on the 

 lakes and in New England for deposit in suitable waters. 



Some experimental work was undertaken at Put-in Bay in penning 

 and holding adult whitefish until ready to deposit their eggs, with 

 the view to increasing the collections on Lake Erie, so as to supply the 

 hatcheries at Duluth, Alpena, and Cape Vincent. The results, though 

 not large, show that by similar methods good returns may be expected, 

 and under favorable conditions the number of eggs collected in the 

 future will be limited only by the number of whitefish taken during 

 the fall months, whereas, under the present system, a storm occurring 

 during the short spawning season reduces the collections from 30 to 50 



