REPORT 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES 



FOR THE 



FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1897. 



I have the honor to submit a report of the operations of the United 

 States Commission of Fish and Fisheries for the year ending June 30, 

 1897, with reports from the assistants in charge of its different divisions, 

 showing the work in detail, together with an appendix describing the 

 methods offish-culture pursued by the Commission. 



The work of the Division of Fish-Culture has been very satisfactory, 

 showing a gratifying increase in the propagation and distribution of 

 the important food-fishes. In addition to the stations mentioned last 

 year, those at San Marcos, Tex., Manchester, Iowa, and Bozeman,Mont., 

 have been completed and are now in operation. 



Attention has been paid to carrying out the policy outlined in my 

 former report, of increasing the production of the commercial species 

 propagated by the Commission on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and 

 the Great Lakes, by establishing auxiliary hatcheries in connection with 

 the permanent stations, for the extension of the field for the collection 

 of eggs. The use of Battle Creek Station, Shasta County, Cal., obtained 

 through the cooperation of the California Fish Commission, resulted in 

 the collection of over 25,000,000 salmon eggs in addition to the 5,000,000 

 collected at Baird Station. In the Columbia River Basin the plants 

 of fry were increased by the establishment of temporary stations on 

 the Salmon River in Oregon and the Little White Salmon River in 

 Washington, the two stations yielding over 4,700,000 eggs. 



The total collection at the Pacific stations, amounting to 37,000,000, 

 was over three times greater than the collection of any previous season. 

 5,000,000 quinnat-salmon eggs were transferred to eastern stations, and 

 the fry resulting from them were i)lanted in the Hudson, Delaware, and 

 St. Lawrence rivers. New York, and the Penobscot and Union rivers, 

 Maine. Additional assignments of steelhead eggs were also sent east, 

 and plants of the fry were made in the Penobscot and Hudson rivers 

 and tributaries of Lakes Michigan and Superior. 



The cod work at the Massachusetts stations was the most extensive 

 ever accomplished by the Commission, over 178,000,000 eggs being 

 collected. 97,419,000 frj- were hatched and liberated on the natural 

 spawning-grounds by means of the steamer Fish HaivJx and sailing 

 vessels chartered for the purpose. 



