PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1925 475 



from a few fish late in tlie season were readily fertilized and successfully in- 

 cubated, and it is possible that this method may have to be more extensively 

 resorted to hereafter. 



During the spring mackerel appeared to be abundant in local waters and 

 throughout the spawning season the one small boat available was in constant 

 attendance on such traps as could be reached, with spawn takers to secure all 

 available eggs. As a result of these efforts 3,517,000 eggs of good quality were 

 taken and incubated. Advantage was taken of the opportunity afforded to 

 attach tags to a considerable number of adult mackerel, in continuance of the 

 rather extensive fish-tagging program recently inaugurated by the bureau. 

 Scup, another highly important food fish, was also present in fair numbers, 

 though none containing ripe eggs was found in the traps visited. If a suitable 

 boat had been available for the prosecution of the work it seems certain that 

 many more mackerel eggs and quite probably eggs of the scup in considerable 

 numbers might have been salvaged. 



Some 50,000 eggs of the steelhead salmon were received in May from the 

 Applegate Creek (Oreg.) substation. The consignment arrived in rather poor 

 condition, a considerable number of the eggs having hatched on the trays en route. 

 The surviving eggs were successfully incubated and the resulting fish were dis- 

 tributed in various tributary streams of Johns Pond, Waquoit, Mass. 



ANADROMOUS FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST 



Fish-cultural work with fishes of this class is conducted at three 

 stations, located in Maryland, North Carolina, and Maine. The 

 species handled are the shad, river herrings, and Atlantic salmon. 

 The general results of the work in 1925 did not vary materially 

 from those of the preceding year. 



Shad 



Bryans Point (Md.) substation. — Though weather conditions throughout the 

 winter and early spring were favorable to a good run of shad, the fish failed to 

 appear in any considerable numbers and the catch made by the Potomac River 

 fishermen proved the smallest ever recorded. Overfishing and a total lack of 

 protection are undoubtedly responsible for this falling off. In the course of the 

 spawning period (from April 16 to May IS) small daily collections of eggs were 

 made, aggregating 26,270,000 for the season. In accordance with the policy here- 

 tofore pursued, no eggs were measured or paid for until the second day after 

 their receipt at the hatchery, thus obviating the possibility of paying for defec- 

 tive eggs and insuring a large percentage of hatch. Seven hundred thousand 

 eggs in the eyed stage were shipped for development in the central station (Wash.) 

 aquarium, and 16,678,671 fry were hatched from those retained. Five hundred 

 thousand of the fry were furnished to the Connecticut State Board of Fisheries 

 and Game, and the remainder were released on the natural spawning grounds, 

 being divided equally between Maryland and Virginia waters. 



Shad and River Herring. Edenton (N. C.) Station 

 [Wm. S. Vincent, Superintendent] 



The two anadromous fishes of commercial importance handled at this station 

 are shad and river herring. Though the station was established primarilv for 

 the propagation of shad, this work has gradually decHned in volume and is' now 

 of minor importance, owing to the growing scarcity of shad in the Albemarle 

 Sound region. 



At the opening of the spring fishing season it was anticipated that a goodlv 

 number of shad in spawning condition might be secured at the Capehart Beach 

 fishery, but this hope proved futile. Only 2,000 fish were taken, as compared 

 with a catch of 12,000 the preceding year, and after endeavoring for 10 days to 

 obtain eggs the work was finally abandoned. The total collections of eggs during 

 this period amounted to only 502,000. A discouraging feature of the work was 

 the difficulty of obtaining male and roe shad at the same time. The morning 

 catch was very apt to consist almost entirely of males, while in the evening condi- 

 tions were usuallv reversed. 



