54 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHEEIES. 



spawned naturally. In recent years these nets have constituted a 

 very uncertain source of egg supply for propagation, as the State laws 

 require their removal by April 25, just when the spawning season is 

 at its height. In view of all the facts in the case it was deemed 

 advisable to discontinue the issuing of licenses and await further 

 developments. As a consequence of this decision the shad work of 

 the Edenton station was limited to the incubation of 250,000 eggs, 

 which were taken while a collection of material was being made for 

 examination by the bureau's scientists. Two hundred thousand fry 

 were produced from this lot and delivered to an applicant at Frank- 

 lin, Va. 



In lieu of the shad work, all efforts were concentrated on the propa- 

 gation of the river herrings, of which two species, the branch her- 

 ring (Fomolohus pseudoharengu>i) and the glut herring {P. aesti- 

 valis) are available. Owing to the cold late spring the spawning 

 season began somewhat later than usual. Egg collections extended 

 from April 9 to May 10, the largest numbers being taken on April 

 23 and 24. Variable winds kept the run of herVing constanth^ on the 

 move, the fish coming in with the southwest winds and running back 

 with the offshore wind. Notwithstanding this handicap, however, 

 over 313,000,000 eggs were taken, or neai'ly three times the number 

 secured the previous year. 



Very difficult conditions are encountered in the. collection of her- 

 ring eggs. Wliile the owner of a fishing boat desires that the bureau 

 obtain all ripe eggs available, his main object is to get the fish to 

 market, and the spawn taker is sometimes obliged to work so fast 

 that it is impossible to prevent the taking of some immature eggs 

 with the ripe spawn. For this reason there is often a wide margin 

 of difference between the number of eggs collected and the number 

 hatched, and, while a hatch of 90 per cent was frequently obtained 

 during the season, it was much below that taking the work as a whole. 



The herring egg is adhesive during the earlier stages of incuba- 

 tion, and all attempts to overcome this adhesion by the use of the 

 starch solution have been of no avail. For the first 24 hours, there- 

 fore, the eggs are held in open-top jars and must be stirred almost 

 constantly with a feather to prevent their forming into a solid mass. 

 By the end of that time the developing fish in the egg seems to over- 

 come the adhesive tendency and an increase in the flow of water 

 at this period will give all the motion required to keep the eggs 

 in good condition until incubation is completed. During the past 

 season the period of incubation was 57 hours in an average water 

 temperature of 67°. 



In addition to its work with the anadromous fishes the station 

 produced limited numbers of the various pond species. Mention of 

 this work may be found on page 84. 



STRIPED BASS. 



WELDON (N. C.) SUBSTATION. 



[W. S. Vincent, Suixrintendent.] 



For several years prior to the striped-bass spawning season of 

 1923 the bureau's work in the propagation of this species had been 

 directed by a temporary employee — a resident of Weldon. The 



