8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



many of the waters for which the fish are desired, it is impossible for 

 the Bureau's cars and messengers to accomplish the necessary travel 

 within the collecting season : and in the absence of convenient or ade- 

 quate storage ponds none of the fish can be held for later distribution. 

 It is most important for this work that there be established along the 

 upper Mississippi stations with large pond capacity for the retention 

 of rescued fish. 



As a source of general supply for applicants, however, the over- 

 flow collections are necessarily unreliable. The flood seasons are 

 variable and the periods of collecting consequently uncertain. In 

 the interest of economy and efficiency, it is essential that the more 

 remote regions shall be provided with hatcheries, which will furnish 

 the desired fish to applicants in those respective localities, leaving the 

 fishes collected from the overflowed districts to be distributed near by. 



Culture of striped hass. — The hatching of striped bass continues 

 to be unsatisfactory, and the persistent difficulties that the Bureau 

 has encountered point to the possibility that artificial propagation 

 of this species upon any adequate scale may never be feasible, at least 

 on the Atlantic coast. A removable adversity, however, is the ex- 

 cessive fishing at the mouths and in the lower waters of streams, 

 which prevents so large a proportion of the fish from reaching the 

 spawning grounds, thus curtailing the Bureau's hatchery work as 

 well as interfering with natural reproduction; and this condition, 

 coupled with the doubtful practicability of artificial propagation in 

 any case, leads to the conclusion that in the Atlantic Coast States the 

 need of the striped bass is protective legislation. It may be said, 

 indeed, that the future of this fishery is largely dependent upon the 

 protection accorded the spawning fish. 



Acclimatization of the lobster on the Pacific coast. — Efforts to 

 establish the eastern lobster on the Pacific coast of the United States 

 have been continued, and much the largest plant of adult lobsters 

 ever attempted has been made in the waters of Puget Sound. In 

 November, 1907, a carload lot of lobsters in charge of a special attend- 

 ant was taken from the Atlantic coast' to Seattle, the lobsters packed 

 in wet seaweed, held in shallow trays, and kept at a low temperature 

 en route. There was only a small loss m transit, and 1,011 fully 

 grown lobsters, 470 being egg-bearing, were safely deposited on 

 suitable bottom about the San Juan Islands. 



Some results of fish-culture. — Results of the propagation of white- 

 fish in the Great Lakes, particularly in Lake Erie, have been unmis- 

 takably evident during the past j'^ear, and the commercial fishermen 

 unanimously credit the abundance of fish to the work of the hatcher- 

 ies,- the catch during 1907 and the first half of 1908 was larger than 

 in any equal period for fully twenty j'^ears. The numerous and long 

 unrewarded attempts to acclimatize the chinook salmon in New Eng- 



