470 V. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



In the latter part of December 586,000 eyed brook-trout eggs were received 

 from commercial dealers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and 483,600 were 

 turned over to the station by the Pennsylvania Department of Fisheries; 136,920 

 rainbow trout eggs were received from a hatchery of the Michigan Conservation 

 Department in return for cisco eggs previously furnished the State, and from the 

 Swanton (Vt.) station 11,000,000 green pike-perch eggs and 4,000,000 eyed 

 yellow-perch eggs were received. The fry from all of this stock was utilized in 

 supplying applicants and in making public plants in suitable waters. 



In response to a general demand for fingerling fish in preference to fry, 24 

 troughs and 12 large rearing tanks were constructed during the winter, and in 

 cooperation with the Jefferson County Game and Fish Association these, with 

 24 additional troughs belonging to the association, were set up in a field near 

 Watertown, N. Y., and used for the rearing of brook and rainbow trout to the 

 large fingerling size before distributing them. The water supply for this rear- 

 ing project was obtained from two spring-fed brooks. 



Swanton (Vt.) Substation 

 [J. P. Snyder, Superintendent] 



During September, 1924, a considerable amount of repair and improvement 

 work was accomplished at this substation. All pens for the holding of brood fish 

 were enlarged and placed in good condition, power boats and skiffs were repaired 

 and painted, a new live car for the transportation of brood pike perch from the 

 fishing grounds to the hatchery was constructed, 200 additional jars were pro- 

 vided, and many minor ■ repairs were made. Arrangements were completed 

 early in March with the States of Pennsylvania and Vermont for the propagation 

 of pike perch on a cooperative basis. Under the plan agreed upon the bureau 

 furnished the services of two experienced fish-culturists, Pennsylvania supplied 

 most of the requisite funds and the services of two men, receiving as its share 

 of the returns 50 per cent of the eggs collected, while Vermont provided the 

 services of one man and allowed the fishermen to sell all nongame fish taken in 

 the nets to compensate them for the delivery of their brood pike perch for the 

 hatchery work. 



B}^ March 23 the hatchery and its equipment were ready for active operations. 

 Seining was undertaken as soon as the ice broke on Lake Champlain, the first 

 brood fish being captured on April 6, and by the 13th of April 4,057 large 

 female and 1,553 male pike perch had been assembled in the pens. In view of 

 the very low water level in the lake it was considered unsafe to carry a larger 

 number, hence further seining was deferred until the 17th, when an effort was 

 made to secure additional male fish. Within a few days after the work started 

 it became necessary to release over 1,000 of the females, as the crowded condition 

 of the pens and the low stage of the water were causing the development of 

 fiuigus. Eggs were taken between April 15 and April 29, the total for the season 

 amounting to 170,720,000. As a result of an actual count of green and eyed 

 eggs during the first days of the season the eggs were estimated to run 110,000 to 

 the quart. Formerly 150,000 eggs to the quart was the measure used. 



Incidental to the pike perch work, 29,300,000 yellow-perch eggs were collected 

 from the marshes in the vicinity of the hatchery. Practically all of these pro- 

 duced fry, some of which were supplied to applicants. Collections of eggs of this 

 species at the Swanton substation are limited only b}" the space and facilities 

 available for their development. 



Bryans Point (Md.) Substation 



[L. Q. Harron, Superintendent] 



During the first half of March the Bryans Point station was engaged in as- 

 sembling a brood stock of yellow perch as a source of egg supply for the hatchery. 

 As the season's catch of this species by the Potomac River fishermen proved to 

 be very small, only 6,047 could be secured, less than one-third the number 

 handled at the station in the previous vear. These fish spawned in live boxes 

 between the 15th and the 27th of March, yielding 48,875,000 eggs. On attaining 

 the eyed stage, 5,850,000 were shipped to central station, Washington, D. C, 

 and 34,420,800 fry were developed from the remainder and liberated on the 

 spawning grounds in the Potomac River. 



Observation has shown that the great and growing scarcity of yellow perch in 

 this region may justly be attributed to the present extensive use of fyke nets. 

 Many of the fishermen are employing what is known as the sunken fyke, a device 



