PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 193 3 457 



with in order to give a complete picture of the extent to which sports- 

 men's ckibs have participated in this movement. The majority of 

 the estabhshments shown below have been in operation for several 

 years and the turn-over, meaning:; tiie abandonment of older nurseries 

 and the initiation of new ones, is becoming less each year. The 

 inefficient establishments or those lackinj^ suitable facilities have 

 been weeded out by unsatisfactory results durins? the first year or 

 two of operation. The State of Pennsylvania ai^ain cooperated by 

 deliverinc: 475,000 brook trout to nurseries located within that State. 

 Many of the other States maintain their own sj'stem of cooperative 

 rearing projects, so that the total list of interested individual sports- 

 men or sportsmen's organizations who have taken upon themselves 

 the responsibility of an active effort toward maintenance of good 

 fishing will number several hundred. 



SALVAGE OPERATIONS 



As usual, the landlocked pools in the upper Mississippi River area, 

 including the Wild Life Refuge in that section, were covered by seining 

 crews sent out to salvage the fish and prevent their loss by the com- 

 plete drjang up of sloughs and backwaters. This work was somewhat 

 more extensive than during the previous year, and the total collections 

 represent an increase of almost one-third. In this total, however, 

 there are almost 3,000,000 fish which were produced in artificially 

 controlled rearing and hatching ponds. These are located at ad- 

 vantageous points wdthin the refuge and adjoining territory and are 

 operated as auxiliaries to the La Crosse (Wis.) hatchery. Since these 

 fish are produced independently of the natural supply, a much larger 

 percentage of them is used for supplying applicants at more distant 

 points. The rescued fish are very largely returned to the Mississippi 

 River and its tributaries, from wliicli they are derived. 



47007—34- 



