672 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



troughs were kept well filled with fingerlings, though fish were planted as rapidly 

 as they could be handled for a period of more than six weeks. Collections of 

 brook trout eggs were disappointing as to number but additional shipments 

 received from other stations of the bureau should permit of a record output of this 

 species during the latter part of 1931. The brood Loch Leven trout produced 

 sufficient eggs to meet the needs of the station and allow for the shipment of 

 100,000 eggs to outside points. The station received more applications for that 

 species during the year than ever before. 



In 1928 a few black-spotted trout eggs received from Pyramid Lake, Nev,, 

 were placed in one of the brood stock ponds and during the spring of 1931 the 

 two hundred and twenty-five 3-year-old fish held therein yielded 125,000 eggs of 

 good quality. Rainbow trout egg collections were better than had been antic- 

 ipated in advance of the spawning season, taking into consideration the low stage 

 of water both in Pathfinder Reservoir and the streams emptying into it. Some 

 of these streams did not carry sufficient water to enable the larger fish to ascend 

 as far as the traps, though the traps are located as near to backwater in the reser- 

 voir as is practicable during a normal season. A cloud-burst in the upper part of 

 Lost Creek so flooded the hatchery there that more than 3 inches of mud was 

 washed into the troughs, making it imperative to immediately plant in parent 

 waters all eggs and fry on hand in an effort to save as many of them as possible. 

 An additional shipment of fry was diverted from the main station to the Lost Creek 

 field in order to replace the stock lost. A temporary batterj' of troughs was set up 

 at a small spring near the Lost Creek hatchery to ascertain if it would be possible 

 with a better suppl}' of water to save many more eggs from the later collections. 

 The experiment proved quite satisfactory. Two hundred thousand eggs of the 

 black-spotted trout were received from Pyramid Lake, Nev. A number of finger- 

 lings resulting from them had been planted before the year closed and 159,000 

 were still on hand in the hatchery. 



SPEARFISH (S. DAK.) STATION AND SUBSTATION 

 [D. C. Booth, Superintendent] 



The cottages occupied by the station superintendent and fish culturist were 

 shingled during the year and a new gas-heating system was installed for heating 

 the hatchery building and residences. The intake from the creek, which supplies 

 water to the larger hatchery ponds, was improved to provide a more adequate 

 and safe supply. The activities at this station are concerned with the propaga- 

 tion of the brook, rainbow, and Loch Leven trout. Eggs of these fishes number- 

 ing 1,410,475 were taken from the station brood stock, and of the 610,900 rain- 

 bow trout eggs secured over 400,000 were transferred to other stations and 

 exchanged for brook trout eggs. The year's distributions of fish numbered 1,919,- 

 240, of which 574,790 were large fingerling trout that had been carried over from 

 the hatch of the previous year. The brood stock of Loch Leven trout, consisting 

 of 2,171 fish measuring 12 to 25 inches in length, was released in suitable waters. 

 This action was taken because Loch Leven trout eggs are obtainable from the 

 Montana field, where they are collected from wild stock at a much lower cost 

 than is involved in the maintenance of a brood stock of this species. A consid- 

 erable amount of favorable comment and newspaper publicity has been ascribed 

 to the work of the bureau in this region in maintaining sport fishing. 



Crawford (Nebr.) substation. — Work connected with the completion of this 

 substation was continued throughout the year. Two cement ponds were con- 

 structed at the north end of the hatchery, the flagpole base was made, the pole 

 set in position, and walks were laid. An auxiliary water supply was piped to the 

 hatchery for tempering the main water supply, which is too warm in summer to 

 maintain trout and too cold in winter for the incubation of healthy f^3^ The 

 first floor and basement of the apprentice fish culturist's cottage was completed. 

 A nursery pond was constructed near the source of the auxiliary water supply 

 at a distance of several miles from the hatcher}'. 



No brood stock of fish has as yet been established at the Crawford substation 

 and all stock furnished during the year was in the form of eyed eggs shipped in 

 from outside sources, the total shipments comprising 646,015 brook, rainbow, 

 and Loch Leven trout eggs. The losses sustained in their development were 

 small. Some of the resulting fish were distributed as small fingerlings, but the 

 majority were held over to be planted as large-size fingerlings during the fiscal 

 year 1932. A lot of 48,275 trout 4 to 7 inches in length, carried over from the 

 hatch of the previous year, were distributed. The pond fish distributed were 



