476 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Large numbers of river herring were captured during the spring, and com- 

 mercial fishing for that species proved more i)rofitable than in many years; 

 more eggs were therefore taken for propagation than in any previous season 

 since the Edenton station was established, the total exceeding 336,000,000. 

 The percentage of fertilization was very low, however, owing to unusual adhesive- 

 ness of the eggs, and only about half of the collections was hatched. Every 

 known method was employed to overcome the adhesiveness, among these being: 

 the use of muck and starch, taking the eggs at different periods of the day, 

 feathering, etc., but all to no purpose. An a])parently plausible theory was 

 advanced by some of the fishermen to account for the faulty condition of the 

 eggs. The almost total lack of rain during the spring caused the water in the 

 river to drop to a very low stage at spawning time, when as a general thing very 

 muddy, high water ma.v be looked for during this period, and the fishermen were 

 of the opinion that lack of sediment in the water may have been responsible for 

 the failure of the eggs to develop as usual. In past seasons many schools of 

 young herring have been observed near the docks and fish houses. Last season, 

 the schools were late in appearing and their numbers were greatly reduced, 

 seemingly justifying the assumption that the percentage of hatch under natural 

 conditions was also below normal. 



About 400 brood yellow perch, purchased early in the spring from local fisher- 

 men, were held in one of the station ponds. After the fish had spawned, the eggs 

 were gathered up in small dip nets and developed in hatching jars. The per- 

 centage of fertilization was high and incubation was accomplished with a loss of 

 only 5 per cent. The resulting fry were utilized to supply applicants and make 

 plants in public waters. 



Atlantic Salmon. Craig Brook (Me.) Station 

 [J. D. De Rocher, Superintendent] 



In view of the continued antagonistic attitude of the salmon-weir fishermen 

 as regards the collection of Atlantic-salmon eggs in Maine rivers, no effort was 

 made to procure a brood stock of that species. The small number of Atlantic- 

 salmon fry on hand at the beginning of the fiscal year was carried to the No. 2 

 fingerling stage and then liberated in Dead Brook and Dennys River. Early in 

 March two consignments of eggs of this species were received from hatcheries 

 operated by the Canadian Government, one of 1,000,000 eggs coming from South 

 Esk, New Brunswick, and another of 500,000 from Gaspe, Province of Quebec. 

 Approximately 954,000 fry were hatched from the first lot, while the second 

 produced more than 490,000. The fish were distributed in the advanced fry 

 stage, plants being made in the Penobscot, Piscataquis, Salmon, Pleasant, 

 Dennys, St. Croix, and Narragaugus Rivers. 



FISHES OF MINOR INTERIOR WATERS 



The ever growing demands for fish and fish eggs of practically 

 all of the game species propagated by the bureau are making it 

 increasingly difficult to keep pace with them. Of late years the ex- 

 pansion in this direction has been greatly intensified by the wide 

 use of the automobile as a means of travel, and by the building of 

 roads into hitherto inaccessible regions, thereby opening up to pubHc 

 fishing and subsecjuent depletion many waters that formerly con- 

 tained fish in abundance. 



Among the fishes most frequently called for are the rainbow trout, 

 brook trout, black basses, rock bass, sunfishes, and crappie. Thus 

 far it has been possible to produce the rainbow trout in quantities 

 adequate to meet the requirements, but in the case of the brook 

 trout the dwindling su])ply of wild fish lias necessitated reliance upon 

 commercial trout-culturists for a large percentage of the eggs needed 

 for stocking the bureau's hatcheries. T)uring the past year the de- 

 mands for practically all of the pondfishes have been entirely out 

 of proportion to the available supply, and in its efforts to cope with 



