44 U. S, BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



years the fishermen were able to set their nets at the beoinnhig' of 

 the open season. The weather turned cold a few days afterwards, 

 however, and the anchor ice formed by the heavy winds and snow 

 became attached to the nets in large cjuantities, causing them to 

 float, and some of them drifted aw^ay with the current to such a 

 distance that they were never recovered. The spawning season ex- 

 tended from April 10 to Ma}' 6, and the storms prevailing through- 

 out this period injured the nets so badly that the time of the fisher- 

 men was largely employed in making repairs, to the detriment of 

 egg collections. Of the season's total — aggregating 11)2,-1:4(),00!) — 

 eggs to the number- of 37,275.000 were delivered in the green state 

 to the Ohio Fish Commission, and 4,500,000 eyed eggs were shipped 

 on assignment. The fry resulting from the remainder — amounting 

 to 51,800,000 — were libei'ated in the vicinity of the collecting fields 

 in Lake Erie. 



In connection with the pike-perch work. 900.000 eggs of the sauger 

 {Stizostedion canadense) were obtained from fish taken in a trap 

 net. These Avere incubated in the hatching jars without any diffi- 

 culty and almost without loss, yielding over 90 per cent of healthy 

 fry. The eggs are heavy, slightly adhesive, ahd measure 17 to the 

 linear inch after being fully water hardened. All previous exiperi- 

 ence with sauger eggs at this station has ])een with spawn from fish 

 taken in gill nets, and though the eggs have invariably been handled 

 with the utmost care, in no instance have any fry ever been hatched 

 from them. This would seem to indicate that the manner of cap- 

 turing the fish has much to do with the (juality of the eggs. The 

 season's collections also included 8.440.000 yellow-perch eggs, from 

 which 8,000.000 fry Avere hatched and planted. 



Very successful results were obtained in the propagation of carp. 

 Eggs of this species were taken betw^een June 1 and June 20 and a 

 total of 160,500,000 was secured, this record exceeding that of any 

 previous year since the inauguration of the work in 1918. The field 

 of collection was extended to Sanduslry Bay, where spawning fish 

 were found to be very plentiful, and by this means a far greater 

 number of eggs was secured than would have been jjossible from the 

 Portage River alone. All eggs taken were of excellent quality and 

 yielded a good percentage of fry. In making the distributions the 

 fry were liberated over a distance of 12 miles in the Portage River, 

 from Port Clinton to Oak Harbor. 



A very tmusual difficulty was encovmtered about the middle of 

 December. Minnows in immense numbers, moving along the shores 

 of the lake, were taken up in the water supply suction and carried 

 against the screens of the tanks, which became so clogged with them 

 as to be of no practical use. A few strokes of the pump would result 

 in complete obstruction, and for three nights the entire station force 

 was occupied in keeping the spigots free of minnows. 



During the year the station steamer w^as placed in dry dock, all 

 barnacles and rust removed, and the bottom painted with two coats 

 of tar thinned with turpentine and applied with a common paint 

 brush. This material has been used for several years for this pur- 

 pose and has been found to be entirely satisfactory. 



