MANUAL OF FISH-CULTURE. 143 



EGG-COLLECTING. 



Collecting eggs is the work of experienced watermen, who must be 

 prepared to endure all kinds of weather in open boats. The boats are 

 towed out to the fishing-grounds by steam-launches, where the spawn- 

 takers visit the nets of tlie market fishermen, obtaining from them the 

 spawning fish. After eggs have been obtained a ticket is dropped into 

 each i^anful, with the date and the name of the fisherman, for entry on 

 the books of the station. The price for eggs is always above the 

 market price of the shad, and payment is made at the end of the season 

 on the basis of 28,000 to the liquid quart, the price being $10 to $20 per 

 1,000,000. On the Potomac 40 to 50 spawn-takers are employed at the 

 station, besides 12 or 15 men who are engaged as hatching attendants, 

 machinists, firemen, and cooks. 



The spawn-taker uses a IC-foot flat-bottomed bateau and is provided 

 with a lantern, six small and four large spawn pans, and a dipper of 

 1-quart capacity. The pans are made of tin and are of two sizes, 

 11-inch and 18-inch diameters, the latter with handles. The smaller are 

 for receiving eggs on delivery from the fish, and the larger for carrying 

 them. The pans are thoroughly washed each night after use and not 

 allowed to become rusty or indented. The dii)pers are round-bottomed, 

 hold nearl}'^ a quart, and have handles with open ends, with 5 inches of 

 the free end wrapped with seine twine. To obtain eggs from a seine, 

 double the above number of spawn vessels may be required. 



Spawn-taking tubs of indurated wood fiber have been introduced in 

 Potomac River operations and found superior to tin, being without 

 hoops or joints, non-corrosive, and non-conductors of heat. They have 

 wood covers which fit inside the rims, and the tops fit tightly by means 

 of a soft rubber joint: 4 inches of the central part of the cover is cut 

 away to admit air. 



As the shad manipulated are sold and consumed in a fresh state, 

 fishermen waste no time in transferring them to market boats, which 

 are in waiting, and rapidity of execution is therefore required on the 

 part of the spawn-taker, who must be alert and exact in his methods. 



In gill-net fishing there is usually ample time to assort the fish, 

 which are taken into the boat one at a time, except when sudden 

 squalls or exceptional captures force the premature hauling in of the 

 net with the fish wound up in the meshes. Unskilled spawn-takers 

 are liable to the mistake of stripping eggs without having the neces- 

 sary milt to impregnate them, for several spawners may be taken over 

 a period of ten or twenty minutes without the capture of a male fish. 

 In such cases (of great frequency late in the season) the female fish 

 must be placed conveniently, backs down, to prevent the eggs from 

 running out, and the males may have to be obtained from other boats. 

 When ripe shad are taken in seines, two or three large baskets should 

 be in readiness to receive them. 



Sometimes the number of ripe fish will be sufficient to occupy all the 

 attention that can be devoted to them; at other times the run of fish 



