REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. LXXI 



sition that the later run would contain more females than males. The 

 eggs secured from the penned fish were of fair quality, though not as 

 good as those collected during a favorable spawning season. With the 

 experience gained there is little doubt that in the future much larger 

 and better results will be secured. The eggs collected from the penned 

 fish cost $1.20 per quart, or 3^ cents per 1,000; those taken directly 

 from the fish captured in the usual manner cost less than 2 cents per 

 1,000. This is exclusive of the cost of the live-boxes, pens, nets, etc., 

 which are on hand and available for work in the future. It is easily 

 understood that ten times as many eggs could have been collected at 

 the same expense as the number referred to, in which event the cost 

 would have been less than 1 cent per 1,000. 



The following is a brief description of the methods employed in col- 

 lecting and penning the fish and of the apparatus used: Stationary 

 live-boxes, supported by piling, have often been used, but as the water 

 at Put-in Bay becomes too warm for this, the boxes were made so that 

 they could be towed, like a raft, into open waters where the current is 

 more vigorous and the temperature more uniform; another advantage 

 gained by this method is that an equal depth of water is maintained in 

 the live-boxes, the rise and fall in this section varying from 4 to 5 feet 

 in a single day, according to the direction and velocity of the wind and 

 the atmospheric pressure. The boxes are 16 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 

 8 feet deep, divided into two equal compartments 8 feet square, pro- 

 vided with false bottoms controlled by standards running in guides at 

 the ends. The standards are pierced by inch holes at intervals of 6 

 inches, so that the false bottoms may be held at any desired place. 

 The lumber used was 6-inch pine boards planed on the inside and nailed 

 to scantling 1| inches apart, so fastened together as to make every side 

 interchangeable. The six boxes, divided into twelve compartments 

 with a capacity for 4,500 fish, were fastened at the ends to boom logs 

 65 feet long, with plank walks on both logs, thus permitting free access 

 to all parts of them. 



Owing to the difficulty experienced in transferring the fish from the 

 pound nets to the boxes, on account of rough weather, supplemental 

 nets 7 feet long and 3 and 4 feet in diameter were placed at each pound 

 net where fish were expected; these were held open at top and bottom 

 by iron rings, and the bottoms were provided with puckering-strings 

 for closing them. By fastening one side of these nets to the down-haul 

 stake and the opposite one to the rim of the pot of the pound, the 

 upper ring is held 3 feet above the surface of the water and the lower 

 one 4 feet below, serving as a weight to keep the net down and also to 

 keep it open, so that the fish will have plenty of room and not be scaled 

 by chafing against the net. Thus located, the supplemental net is in 

 convenient position for receiving the fish when the pound is lifted. By 

 the use of these nets it became possible to secure many more fish than 

 otherwise. During the past season fish were collected from six sets of 

 nets with an equal number of boats, aggregating 55 pound nets. An 

 employee of the Commission was placed in each boat, to dip out the fish 



