REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXXIII 



was employed in making- an investigation of tbe Edisto Eiver, South 

 Carolina, to determine the advisability of establishing an auxiliary 

 station for the propagation of shad on that stream, but the information 

 gained was not favorable. 



Operations on the Delaware and Potomac rivers were materially 

 interfered with by causes pertaining to the war with Spain ; on the 

 Delaware by the withdrawal of the Fish Hawlc for naval duty at the 

 very height of the spawning season, and on the Potomac by the estab- 

 lishment of a blockade at Fort Washington and by the laying of mines 

 or torpedoes on the spawning- grounds. 



In order that the shad work on the Delaware might not be omitted 

 altogether, arrangements were made with the Pennsylvania Fish Com- 

 mission for the use of their shad-hatchery at Bristol, which permitted 

 the hatching and planting of 21,000,000 fry in this stream and its tribu- 

 taries. At Battery Station, on the Susquehanna, the results were very 

 satisfactory, over 209,000,000 eggs being secured between April 13 and 

 June 10, about 100 per cent more than had ever been taken at any of 

 the stations of the Commission during a single season. 



At the trout and bass stations the work was generally satisfactory, 

 the production of brook trout being much larger than ever before. The 

 number of bass distributed was small as compared with other fishes, 

 but it is believed, with the experience gained during the past season, 

 that the output from the various stations will be largely increased next 

 season. Considerable attention has also been paid to the propagation 

 of the crappie, one of the most desirable fishes for stocking the streams 

 and lakes in the Mississippi and Missouri Eiver valleys, and in the 

 South and Southwest. 



In addition to the fishes heretofore handled, the propagation of the 

 Montana grayling was taken up at Bozeman Station ; about 3,000,000 

 eggs were collected at Eed Eock, Montana, at the headwaters of the 

 Jefferson Eiver. Efforts have been made in i)ast years by the United 

 States Fish Commission and the various State fish commissions to col- 

 lect eggs of this valuable game and food fish, but the results heretofore 

 attained have been very unsatisfactory. 



Continuing the experiments of previous years, two consignments of 

 adult lobsters were sent from Woods Hole to San Francisco during the 

 mouths of July and December and liberated near the Farallone Islands. 

 Of these, 229 were females, carrying from 10,000 to 25,000 eggs each, so 

 that it is estimated that from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 young lobsters 

 resulted from this plant, in addition to the adults. 



In July a carload of tautog and blue crabs was also sent west for 

 introduction into the waters of the Pacific, as it was thought they would 

 not only be well adapted to the waters of the Pacific Coast, but would 

 prove valuable additions to the fishery resources of that section. The 

 plants were made near the Farallone Islands during July, and consisted 

 of 566 fish ranging in length from 4 to 10 inches, and 162 of the common 

 blue crab of the Atlantic Coast. 

 F. R. 98 III 



