PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 193 3 471 



the Penobscot River and other suitable waters. The Craig Rrook 

 station also handled large numbers of trout and landlocked salmon, 

 the latter derived from the collection of 840,000 eggs made at tlie 

 Grand Lake Stream (Maine) substation. 



The principal point for shad projiagation is at Fort Huinj)lirey3, 

 Va., a short distance below Washington. The season opened here 

 with the propagation of yellow perch in ^larch, egg collections approx- 

 imating 117,000,000, yielding over 105,000,000 fry. The majority 

 of these were planted locally although 39,000,000 were allocated to 

 the State of Virginia for stocking other waters tributary to the Po- 

 tomac River. The shad work was of average magnitude, an output 

 of 18,400,000 having been obtained. 



At Edenton, N.C., effort was made to restore the output of shad to 

 earlier numbers, but the encroachment of brackish water on the spawn- 

 ing grounds has resulted in a catch by the fishermen of large numbers 

 of shad in which the eggs are not mature and are incapable of artificial 

 incubation. The same also applied to the work with the glut herring 

 at Eden ton, the output being limited to 25,000,000 herring and 1,200,- 

 000 shad. Adverse weather limited the output of yellow perch also 

 bringing it below the figures for the last several years. A limited 

 number of white perch were propagated and planted in local waters. 

 The Edenton station discontinued the propagation of striped bass 

 which formerly had been conducted in the Roanoke River incoopera- 

 tion with the State of North Carolina. During the off season for the 

 propagation of commercial species, the Edenton station is propagating 

 and distributing bass and other pond fish. While the output was 

 satisfactory in the case of bass, an influx of muddy water limited the 

 production somewhat. The station was, however, able to fill all 

 pending applications within its territory. 



At Orangeburg, S.C., cooperative arrangements with the State of 

 South Carolina were continued whereby the Bureau and the State 

 jointly operated a shad hatchery on the Edisto River. This work 

 yielded over 3,000,000 shad fry. Operations were restricted to one 

 point only due to the fact that experiments of previous years have 

 indicated that the most profitable location for this activity is at 

 Jacksonboro on the Edisto River. 



GAME FISH PROPAGATION 



While the proportion of game fish in the total output of the hatch- 

 eries is numerically small, amounting to approximately 1.6 percent of 

 the total or more than 115,000,000, its relative importance is far be- 

 yond tliis ratio. Through the influence of the Federal game fish 

 hatcheries in improving fishing in interior waters, this activity has a 

 bearing upon the interests of at least 10,000,000 people who to some 

 extent fish for fresh-water species. Where the hatchery bred com- 

 mercial fish are distributed at a comparatively small size a short time 

 after hatching, it has been the increasing practice with the game 

 varieties to rear them for as long a period as possible so that when 

 planted they are subjected to natural enemies for only a short period 

 before being large enough for the angler. The greater costs attending 

 this type of work lie in the fact that added facilities and increased 

 expenses for food, care, etc., are involved in the retaining of the fish 

 for periods of 6 months to a year before distributing them. Also the 

 cost of transporting these larger fish to more distant points is obvi- 



