THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS DURING THE FISCAL 



YEAR 1907. 



CHARACTER OF THE WORK. 



About nine-tenths of the output of the fish-cultural stations con- 

 sists of important commercial species, notably the salmons, shad, 

 whitefish, pike perch, yellow perch, white perch, lake trout, cod, 

 pollock, flatfish, and lobsters. These are hatched in lots of many 

 millions annually and planted by the Bureau, the fresh-water spe- 

 cies principally in the large coastal streams and in the Great Lakes, 

 the marine species upon the inshore fishing grounds of the Atlantic. 



The cultivation of the fishes of the interior waters generally classed 

 as game fishes, although a comparatively small factor in the total 

 output, is a very important feature of the Bureau's work, supplying 

 as it does various kinds of young fish for public streams, lakes and 

 ponds, fishing preserves, private ponds, streams, etc., in all parts of 

 the United ^States. Among the fishes most extensively cultivated 

 for these purposes are the landlocked salmon, several species of 

 trout, the grayling, the basses, crappie, bream, and catfish; but 

 various others also are handled. The trouts are artificially hatched 

 from eggs taken from both wild and domesticated stock; the basses, 

 catfishes, and others are derived from mature fish held in ponds for 

 breeding purposes, or (except the small-mouth black bass) they are 

 rescued from the overflows of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. 

 Collections from the latter sources include also pike, yellow perch, 

 buffalo-fish, and several others, which are usually returned imme- 

 diately to the main streams. 



METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION. 



The first consideration in the Bureau's distribution of fishes is to 

 make ample return to the waters from which eggs or fish have been 

 collected. The remainder of the product is consigned to suitable 

 public or private waters on application which is endorsed by a 

 United States Senator or Representative. The fish are carried to 



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