PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1931 655 



YES BAY (ALASKA) STATION 

 [A. T. LooFF, Superintendent] 



Fish-cultural work at this station was devoted mainly to the handling of sock- 

 eye salmon, with incidental collections of eggs of the humi^back and chum salmon 

 and the rearing of a small lot of eastern brook trout for distribution in Alaska 

 waters. Salmon eggs and milts were again used with marked success to feed the 

 stock of young sockeye salmon. The material was obtained from commercial 

 fishing establishments in the district and kept in cold storage until needed. The 

 8,000,000 sockeye salmon fingerlings on hand in the slough pond at the beginning 

 of the year were held until September 8 and then liberated in Lake McDonald. 

 At the time of liberation they had reached a length of 3 inches. 



The season's spawning operations yielded a total of 27,469,000 sockeye salmon 

 eggs, 7,055,000 humpback salmon eggs, and 100,000 chum salmon eggs. On 

 attaining the eyed stage 3,055,000 of the sockeye salmon and 6,107,000 hump- 

 back salmon eggs were forwarded to the bureau's headquarters at Seattle, Wash., 

 for reshipment to applicants in Washington and Oregon. From the retained 

 stock 22,480,000 sockeye salmon fingerlings No. 2, 261,000 humpback salmon 

 advanced fry, and 85,000 chum salmon advanced frj' were produced and released 

 in Lake McDonald. As will be noted from a study of the above figures, the losses 

 on this stock during the time it was held were not above normal. The released 

 salmon were fed in the slough pond until the end of the year. 



The principal item of repair work undertaken during the year was the renewal 

 of foundation posts, sills, studding, floor joists, and flooring in the hatchery 

 building. This part of the building had become badly decayed and at the close 

 of the year the work was in a half-completed condition. It is planned to com- 

 plete it earh^ in the coming fiscal year. Various minor repairs and improve- 

 ments were made to ponds, buildings, and equipment. 



BIRDSVIEW (WASH.) STATION AND SUBSTATIONS 

 [Joseph Kemmerich, Superintendent] 



Operations in this field were conducted throughout the entire year at the five 

 permanently located stations comprising this group. In addition, the Walcotts 

 Slough trap at Brinnon, Wash., was operated during the egg-collecting season; 

 sockeye salmon were reared at the Lake Crescent (Wash.) State hatchery, and 

 silver salmon and steelhead salmon eggs were secured for the Birdsview station 

 at the Baker River dam at Concrete, Wash. Eggs of all the Pacific salmons 

 excepting the humpback were collected. The run of early chum salmon in the 

 Duckabush River was less than 50 per cent of normal, but the egg collections 

 of silver salmon, sockeye salmon and steelhead salmon exceeded those of last 

 year. The total collection of eggs of all species, amounting to 28,532,800, fell 

 short of last year's take by 8,884,700, the decreased results being due in part 

 to the small run of early chum salmon in the Duckabush River and to the fact 

 that 1930 was the "off" year for humpback salmon on Puget Sound. In addi- 

 tion to the eggs collected 9,698,832 eggs of various species of salmon and trout 

 were received by transfer from other fields and handled with the local collections. 

 Eyed steelhead and chinook salmon eggs to the number of 234,250 were forwarded 

 to various points in the State of Washington and to Hawaii. A successful distri- 

 bution of steelhead salmon, eastern brook trout, and black-spotted trout was made 

 from the Birdsview and Quilcene stations to waters of the Mount Rainier National 

 Park. Throughout the greater part of the year the Birdsview station cooperated 

 with the Skagit Countj^ game commission in the hatching and rearing of trout. 



The sockej^e salmon run in Baker River was the smallest experienced since the 

 power Jam was installed, but a greater percentage of the fish arrived at Baker 

 Lake than in previous j'ears and the egg collection was proportionately greater. 

 The more favorable results are attributed to various improvements made in the 

 catching and hoisting device and to the established policy of reducing to a mini- 

 mum the time that the fish are confined therein. 



Continued success was had in the feeding of fluke-infected and treated liver, 

 and it again resulted in a considerable saving in the cost of fish food. The 

 marking experiment begun at the Birdsview station in the fall of 1929, to determine 

 whether age or size at time of liberation is the factor governing the return of 

 sockeye salmon, was continued. The site selected for the establishment of a 

 new hatchery in the Mount Rainier National Forest was obtained from the 



