REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 35 



salmon e<2:j2:s was reduced fully 50 per cent from this cause. The 

 season's take was 2,()S(),0()() steelhead e<2:^s, of which OOO.OOO were for- 

 warded to the l\o<rue Iviver station and TOO.OOO to the State hatchery 

 at l>utte Falls. The remaiiuler were hatched and the resulting fry 

 liberated in Applegate Creek and other near-by tributaries of the 

 l\o<xue Eiver. 



AcknoAvled«2:ment is made of th'3 cordial assistance received from 

 the Oreiion Fish and Game Commission and the local cannery inter- 

 ests. Without their cooperation the extensive feeding of salmon 

 •which was conducted in the Oregon field would not have been pos- 

 sible. 



The drought, adversely affecting fish-cultural work in southern 

 Oregon, extended to California, the past winter being unusually mild 

 and almost without rain. The reduced eg:g collections in California 

 are attributed partly to that cause. The racks installed in the Mc- 

 Cloud River during the latter part of the fiscal year 1919 resulted in 

 the collection of l.o5(),0()() eggs of the spring-run chinook salmon. 

 These were incubated without undue loss, and the fry were reared to 

 fingerlings. During the incubation period the gravity flume was 

 without wat^r-, and the hatchery w^as supplied by pumping from the 

 McCloud River. The racks were removed after the spring run of 

 fish was over, as the fall run of fish at this point has never been suffi- 

 ciently large to warrant the expense invohed in taking eggs. The 

 racks have again been installed for the 1920 season for the spring run 

 of salmon, but the indications are that the effort will meet with 

 failure. The conditions existing at the irrigation dam at Redding 

 have not been remedied, and this, in connection with the protracted 

 drought, has prevented salmon from ascending the Sacramento 

 River. Notice was served on the responsible persons by the Califor- 

 nia Fish and Game Commission to construct a fishway in accordance 

 with the laws of the State, and plans of a suitable structure were 

 furnished, but this notice was ignored. The matter is now in the 

 hands of the legal authorities, who should take prompt action to com- 

 pel compliance with the law. 



At Battle Creek the collections totaled 4,078,000 eggs, as against 

 5,384,000 the preceding year. The usual shipments were made to the 

 State hatchery at Sisson, and from those kept at the station 3,619,000 

 No. IJ fingerlings were produced. Some further work was performed 

 on the pond system established last season, and the pipe line and 

 supply ditch were completed. The decrease in the number of eggs col- 

 lected at the Mill Creek station is larger than at Battle Creek, 6,358,000 

 being the total for 1920, while 17,284,500 were secured last season. 

 Shipments to the number of 4,000,000 were transferred to the Sisson 

 State hatcheiy in the eyed stage, and 2,122,000 fingerlings were pro- 

 duced from the remainder. 



The stack-tray system of handling eggs and fry was tried at sta- 

 tions in this field, witli as satisfactory results as have been derived 

 from that form of apparatus at other salmon stations. 



PROPAGATION OF COMMERCIAL FISHES OF THE GREAT LAKES, 



Climatic conditions during the spawning seasons of the principal 

 fishes of the Great Lakes were extremely variable and on the whole 

 very unfavorable in 1920. The lakes in fall, early winter, and spring 



