600 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
hatcheries, and a carload shipment was received from the Mississippi 
River during the late fall. 
A new type of illuminated colored sign was installed on some of the 
tanks. Due to the frequent changing of exhibits it is necessary to 
develop some sort of sign which will be readily interchangeable. 
Shad eggs and trout eggs from local hatcheries, and salmon eggs from 
the West coast were shown under incubation in the mimiature demon- 
stration hatchery. An average of about 1,500 specimens, including 
the small fingerlings which are reared at the aquarium, were on dis- 
play daily during the year. Shipments of rare golden trout, and of 
lake trout in the fingerlimg stage were received. 
It may be pointed out that the Aquarium in the Department of 
Commerce Building is not the only public aquarium operated by the 
Bureau. At Woods Hole, Mass., and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 
salt-water fish were shown during the summer months. At La 
Crosse and Lake Mills, Wis., Louisville, Ky., and Welaka, Fla., a 
considerable number of fresh-water species were exhibited. All fish 
hatcheries are in the nature of aquaria, since the public is enabled to 
view live fish at any period of the year, and the plans for some of the 
new hatchery developments include special tanks for display purposes. 
DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONS 
Requests for allotments of fish to restock waters were received from 
individuals and sportsmen’s organizations in greater numbers this 
year than for several previous years—the total being 13,146. This 
number does not include applications received from the Forest Service, 
National Park Service, and other Federal agencies, which requests 
were given priority. 
The trend is constantly toward the use of trucks for distribution 
work, especially for trips within a radius of approximately 300 miles 
of the hatchery. At the present time fish cars are used only for the 
longer hauls. During the year fish-delivery trucks traveled a total 
of 367,985 miles. This figure does not include travel by trucks owned 
by State conservation departments, national forests and parks, etc., 
which were used to assist in distributing the production of Federal 
hatcheries. 
Fish-distribution cars, which were engaged in delivering fish to 
applicants and transferring fish between hatcheries, made 57 trips this 
year and carried an average of 260 pails per trip. The cars traveled 
32,048 paid miles and 12,344 free miles. Detached messengers traveled 
50,325 paid miles and 7,263 free miles in delivering fish to applicants. 
As usual, the Bureau received either free transportation or reduced 
rates from a number of the railroads. 
Decentralizing the distribution service by establishing a field office 
at La Crosse, Wis., has greatly expedited distribution activities, espe- 
cially in the Central States. As soon as funds become available, it is 
the expectation to decentralize the distribution service further by 
placing experienced employees at various central points. This will 
not only facilitate the handling of distribution, but will enable the 
Bureau to work in closer cooperation with the State conservation 
departments and at the same time reduce distribution costs. 
