XLIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



This loss was first attributed to mink, but it appeared later tliat they 

 were destroyed by eels. In April a consignment of 100,000 eggs was 

 received from Fort Gaston, Cal., arriving in excellent condition. They 

 yielded 95,904 fry, 35,941 of which were released in local waters in 

 June. The remainder were held for rearing. 



Of the Scotch sea trout resulting from eggs presented to the Com- 

 mission by the journal Shooting and Fishing in 1891, there remains 

 on hand a lot of 10; also two lots derived from eggs produced by these 

 fish. All of the third lot were distributed during the year, and a crop 

 of eggs is expected this fall from the second lot (hatched in 1S95). In 

 November, 1897, the 10 referred to above yielded 10,034 eggs, from 

 which 2,970 young were hatched. The majority of the eggs proved 

 defective and the fish hatched have continued to die, so that at the 

 close of the year only 1,198 remain. 



The stock on hand at the station on June 30, 1898, is as follows : 



Grand Lake Stream. 



Work was resumed at Grand Lake Stream in the fall of 1897, after a 

 lajjse of five years, arrangements having been made with the Interna- 

 tional Leather Company, of Boston, who controlled the tannery prop- 

 erty, for the necessary land and water rights and the occupancy of 

 the buildings. The work was directed by Mr. W. O. Buck, one of the 

 employees of Craig Brook Station, under the supervision of the super- 

 intendent. A few needed repairs were made to the buildings in Sep- 

 tember and October, and the water supply to the hatchery was increased 

 by the renewal of the aqueduct. Barrier nets, to prevent the salmon 

 running downstream, were put in place about the middle of September, 

 and pounds for their capture were set as heretofore. The fishing had 

 been excellent the two preceding springs, and as it was now time that 

 these waters should show the good effects of the last two years' work 

 of the Commission (18913 and 1893), when several hundred thousand 

 yearlings were liberated, a good season's work was expected. The 

 catch proved small, however, the total being only 337, of which 129 

 were males. The longest fish captured measured 24 inches and the 

 heaviest weighed 5 pounds. The average length and weight were 20.2 

 inches and 3.21 ])ounds for the males, and 19.7 inches and 3.30 pounds 

 for the females. The total number of eggs taken was estimated at 



