DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS, 1918. 5 
California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, or western 
Montana, as it is believed their presence in such waters might prove 
harmful to the trout and salmon fisheries of that region. 
Each species of fish spawns at a specific time during the year—the 
brook trout and the domesticated rainbow trout of eastern, waters in 
the fall or early winter; the blackspotted trout, steelhead trout, and 
the wild rainbow trout of western waters during the spring; while all 
of the pond fishes reproduce in the spring or early summer. 
The product of each season is distributed as the fish attam proper 
size for shipment, and after the exhaustion of the stock of one season 
no more are available until the same season the following year. 
The distribution of trout in the Eastern States begins in March and 
is completed by the last of June, while trout shipments to applicants 
in the Middle States extend from about May 1 until well along in 
July. In the Rocky Mountain States the trout distributions occur 
somewhat later, the work usually starting by September 1 and con- 
tinuing into the early winter. 
The black basses produced at the Bureau’s pond-cultural stations 
are distributed between May and August, while the miscellaneous 
fishes rescued from overflowed lands and the output of rock bass, 
crappie, sunfish, and catfish from these stations are shipped simulta- 
neously, the distribution usually extending from August to December, 
It is the policy of the Bureau to fill applications in the order of 
their receipt so far as practicable, but it is impossible to state defi- 
nitely, in advance, when the fish requested by an applicant can be 
furnished, the approximate time of delivery depending upon trans- 
portation facilities, which are not always available on a given date, 
and, in the case of the pond or river fishes, upon the degree of suc- 
cess attained in the collections. 
The number of fish assigned on an application must necessarily be 
governed by the available supply of the species requested and the 
time of year scheduled for the delivery, it being obvious that very 
young fishes which have not been fed can be furnished in much 
larger numbers than those which have been held at considerable ex- 
pense at the Bureau’s stations until they have attained the size of 
fingerlings. It is the aim of the Bureau in all cases to allot a suffi- 
cient number of a given species to form a brood stock for the water 
area described, and those interested in the lake or stream so stocked 
are relied upon to see that the fish are afforded proper protection by 
the restriction or prohibition of fishing until a sufficient length of 
time has elapsed for them to reproduce, a period which will vary 
from two to three years, according to the species furnished. 
Fry or very young fish can be shipped in much larger numbers 
than those of the fingerling sizes. A 10-gallon transportation can 
will safely carry from 2,000 to 3,000 fry of the trouts or black basses, 
