REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 7 



Shad. — The scarcity of the shad in many of the eastern coastal 

 streams, which has been so often discnssed in the Bureau's reports, 

 continues. A fairly successful season obtained on the Potomac and 

 Susquehanna rivers, however, partly from the fact that heavy winds 

 bleAv out the pound nets and prevented fishin'i' in the lower parts of 

 Chesapeake Bay. thus permitting the fish to ascend to the spawning- 

 grounds in the rivers. At Edenton, N. C, a large proportion of the 

 eggs — nearly 19,000.000 — were obtained from gill and pound nets, 

 while the seine fishery at Avoca, usually the nuiin dependence of the 

 Edenton hatchery, furnished but 5,000,000. The protection of the 

 shad in Albemarle Sound has already afforded results, and it is 

 believed that the State law now in force will enable the station to 

 obtain a nnich larger number of eggs from the gillers in future. 



A new field in shad hatching was opened on the Pacific coast, 

 1,245,000 eggs having been taken in Willamette River. It is reported 

 by the superintendent of the Clackamas station that with })roper 

 equipment 10.000.000 shad eggs can be taken there annually. As 

 there is no regular commercial fishery for shad it is necessary for the 

 Bureau to catch the fish from which to take the eggs. 



In an effort to inaugurate shad catching in St. Johns River, 

 F'lorida, the steamer Fis/i Ilaivk was sent to that locality, but only 

 negative results were obtained, owing to inability to secure ripe fish. 



Striped bass. — The three years' operations at Weldon ha^e demon- 

 strated the possibility of propagating striped bass in Xorth Caro- 

 lina, and the 0,514,000 eggs secured in 1907 yielded 3,680,000 fry. 

 Difficulty is experienced, however, in obtaining ripe fish. 



The propagation of striped bass was also taken up, experimentally, 

 on the Pacific coast, under the supervision of the superintendent of 

 the Baird (Cal. ) station, in cooperation with the California Fish 

 Commission. Eggs were collected on the San Joaquin River at 

 Bouldin Island, Avhere a temporary building was erected. It is inter- 

 esting to note that during the first season's efforts 18,705,000 eggs were 

 secured — more than have ever been taken in any one season in North 

 Carolina. With better hatching facilities another season, it is be- 

 lieved that highly satisfactory results can be obtained. 



Atlantic s(d)noit. — The number of Atlantic salmon hatched very 

 nearly approached the best previous record. The output is regulated 

 very largely by the number of mature fish that can be purchased from 

 commercial fishermen. 



Tronts. — It seems unnecessary to call attention specifically to the 

 results of the work with all the various trouts. The output of brook 

 trout depends to some extent on the amount of money available for 

 the purchase of eggs from commercial fish culturists, this source of 

 supply being more economical than collecting from wild fish. The 

 ilemand for rainbow trout continues to be so great that, although the 



