PEOPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1931 663 



Egg collections of the commercial fishes were confined to the New York waters 

 of Lake Ontario, the work being done in cooperation with the New York Con- 

 servation Commission. No pike perch eggs were obtained and only small numbers 

 of lake trout and yellow perch eggs were available. In all, 863,000 lake trout, 

 20,022,000 whitefish, 92,520,000 cisco, and 2,100,000 yellow perch eggs were 

 secured. After rearing, the majority of the resulting fry were planted in Lake 

 Ontario. The station's requirements for brook, Loch Leven, rainbow, and brown 

 trout were met by the shipment of eyed eggs from outside sources. These were 

 used for stocking the main hatchery, the substations, and the cooperative nurseries 

 supervised from Cape Vincent station. The cooperative work is conducted in 

 addition to that at the substations. Nurseries were located at Adams, Malone, 

 Oneonta, and Arena, N. Y., and at Averill, Vt. The output from these projects 

 consisted of 16,775 brook trout 6 to 10 inches long, 28,000 brook trout of smaller 

 size, 28,000 lake trout, 5,200 Loch Leven trout, and 36,000 landlocked salmon, all 

 fingerlings. When the year closed 173,100 fingerling and yearling trout were still 

 on hand. 



Watertown (N. Y.) cooperative substation. — A complete set of trough supports 

 was put in. A total of 286,550 trout fingerlings were distributed, and as the year 

 closed 672,816 fingerling trout were still on hand. 



Barneveld (N. Y.) cooperative substation. — To increase the facilities a battery of 

 outside rearing troughs was installed. Operations at this point are conducted in 

 conjunction with the Utica Chapter No. 3 of the Izaak Walton League. The 

 output reached a total of 201,400 brook and rainbow trout of various sizes, and 

 477,664 young trout remained on hand at the end of June. 



Ithaca (N. Y.) substation. — During 1931, its first year of active production, the 

 Ithaca substation distributed 169,285 brook trout and brown trout fingerlings 

 and held a stock of 198,398 fingerling and yearling trout at the close of the year. 

 The substation was used as a base for various feeding, rearing, and breeding experi- 

 ments under the direction of Dr. G. C. Embody, of Cornell University. 



Swanton (Vt.) substation. — As was the case last year, the take of pike perch 

 eggs was disappointing, only 71,570,000 being secured. In connection with the 

 work with this species 42,800,000 eggs of the yellow perch and 7,375,000 of the 

 white sucker were taken. The sucker eggs were taken at the request of the 

 Pennsylvania Fish Commission. 



RESCUE OPERATIONS 



The rescue of stranded fishes in isolated pools constitutes a con- 

 siderable portion of the bureau's activities in the Mississippi River 

 region. The usual summer lowering of the river level leaves many- 

 pools or ponds of water with neither inlet nor outlet. Many of these 

 inclosures dry up or become stagnant. The fish in these former 

 tributaries or backwashes are congregated in a small volume of water 

 where they become easy victims of fish-eating birds, muskrats, snakes, 

 etc., and may also be easily captured or Idlled by fishermen or poachers. 



Every summer the bureau details a number of crews of experi- 

 enced men to seine all fish out of such inclosures. The fish are then 

 returned to the main river and its tributaries and are used in filling 

 applications. During the fiscal year 1931 the rescue crews saved 

 182,534,861 stranded fishes, this number constituting an all-time record 

 for the work. 



LA CROSSE (WIS.) STATION AND SUBSTATIONS 



[C. F. Culler, in charge] 



An addition of land for pond space was acquired at the La Crosse station during 

 the year. The land has been cleared and an artesian well for water supply has 

 been prepared. Three ponds near Lynxville, Wis., for bass propagation are now 

 in use, and plans are being made for additional ponds for warm-water fishes at 

 other points in this field. Success in the rearing of sunfish in the Wacouta pond 

 near Red Wing, Minn., is reported. At this point rains caused the overflow of the 

 pond during the bass season with a consequent loss of fish. 



Rescue work extended from the middle of July to November 19. Eleven crews 

 were engaged, operating in the bottom lands along the Mississippi River from above 



