REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 31 



boiii«j: somewhat out of re[)air; material for repairs to these racks 

 was destroyed by the fire already mentioned and could not be re- 

 placed in time. A large run of silver salmon also occurred in Baker 

 Lake, but the river sta«2:es were low durinji; the early part of the fall, 

 and fish did not ascend to the lake until November, when the heavy 

 rains in pro<ire^s caused a rise of 12^ feet above normal. overHow- 

 iuii: the trap and i)ermittin«i: many of the fish to escape. The total 

 collection of 'J.OOO.OOO e<r«j:s was transferred to Birdsview imme- 

 diately after bein<2: eyed. The sockeye eggs passed through the 

 incubation period with only nominal losses, and 10,250,000 advanced 

 fry were returned to Baker Lake. 



After the fire of July "21, which destroyed the hatchery, mess house, 

 blacksmith shop, oil house, foreman's cottage, and other small build- 

 ings, with all tools and hatchery equipment, it required the most 

 energetic efforts on the part of the station personnel to complete ar- 

 rangements in advance of the spawning season in September for 

 handling the large numbers of eggs it was expected to collect from the 

 brood fish on hand. The task was especially difficult because of the 

 location of the station with regard to transportation facilities, the 

 nearest railroad station being 18 miles distant and accessible only by 

 pack horses. The first eggs were placed in eight troughs constructed 

 from lumber salvaged from the fire. By October 6 a new sawmill was 

 in operation, and 40 new troughs had been constructed from lumber 

 manufactured on the grounds. In equipping the troughs to receive 

 eggs and fry, more than a thousand trays of three-fourths inch 

 strips covered with wire mesh were required. Earl}^ in November the 

 special appropriation of $50,000 provided by Congress for the recon- 

 struction of the station became available, when the station force was 

 augmented by the employment of temporary labor. The sawmill 

 machinery Avas housed by a building 50 by 80 feet, a temporary shelter 

 was erected over the hatching troughs, and the work of cutting timber, 

 clearing the grounds of wreckage from the fire, and operating the 

 sawmill was pushed as rapidly as possible. The sawmill and con- 

 struction work had to be suspended during the winter, as ice in the 

 lake prevented the movement of logs to the mill, but it was resumed 

 by March 20, and at the close of the fiscal year the lower frame for 

 the new hatching building had been completed. This building is 56 

 feet wide and 130 feet long, with 12-foot walls. It will contain 150 

 standard salmon troughs, and Avith the contemplated tray system it 

 will have a capacity for handling approximately 40,000,000 eggs and 

 fry to the feeding stage. 



Although climatic and other conditions were unfavorable at the 

 Duckabush station, the e'^x^ collect ions exceeded those of several years 

 past. The summer run of chum salmon was very good, and 5,450,000 

 eggs were obtained. The fish were taken in trap and seines at the 

 mouth of the river, and transported by autotruck a distance of 3 

 miles to the hatchery without washing, this method having proved 

 the most satisfactory in making transfers of green eggs of the chum 

 salmon. The "water-hardening" process is delayed by permitting 

 the eggs to remain unwashed in the milt, and experiments conducted 

 last season indicate that eggs reaching the hatchery within an hour 

 after being taken suffer little loss, while those held for a longer period 

 invariably show a serious mortality. An excellent run of steelhead 



