PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1925 481 



Springville (Utah) Station 

 [Claudius Wallich, Superintendent] 



Fish-cultural operations at this station consisted mainly in the propagation 

 of brook, rainbow, and black-spotted trout, though they included also the cap- 

 ture of a limited number of catfish in Utah Lake for filling applications submitted 

 bj^ residents of the State of Utah. 



The work of collecting brook-trout eggs in the Fish Lake field, conducted in 

 cooperation with and under the direction of the Utah fisheries authorities, was 

 taken up November 6, at least 12 days after spawning began, as reported by the 

 forest ranger of that district. The delay occurred because the State officials 

 were not prepared to enter the field at an earlier date. Over 1,000,000 eggs 

 were taken in the first day's operations and later collections were good, though 

 maximum results were not attained owing to the decision of the State operatives 

 not to make daily collections. The last eggs of the season were taken December 3, 

 the total vield being approximatelv 3,500,000, of which the bureau's share was 

 1,341,000." Of the 950,000 eggs eyed from this lot, 500,000 were shipped to the 

 Bozeman (Mont.) station. The remainder were incubated, and most of the 

 resulting fry were used in filling applications and making public plants in suitable 

 waters in Utah. In this connection an equitable proportion of the output was 

 returned to the waters of Fish Lake. 



At the beginning of the fiscal year there were on hand 60,000 fingerling rain- 

 bow trout No. 23^ and 507,000 fry, the latter being the product of spring collec- 

 tions of eggs in Fish Lake. Excessive losses, probably due in part to the use of 

 fertilizing medium from black-spotted trout when the stock of male rainbow 

 trout was inadecjuate, reduced the output of this lot to 295,050 fingerling fish. 

 Eggs were taken from the brood rainbow trout held in the station ponds between 

 December 11 and February 25, the returns aggregating 988,370. Owing to 

 imperfect fertilization only 574,000 of these were developed to the eyed stage. 

 During April and May, 1925, collections of eggs of this species were made at 

 Fish Lake under the direct supervision of the State authorities, and of the 21 

 cases of eggs secured the station received 4 cases containing 700,000. The 

 percentage of fertilization on these was also low, only about one-fourth of them 

 surviving to the eyed stage. The returns from cooperative black-spotted trout 

 work along the same lines at Strawberry Reservoir, Utah, were 3,000,000 eggs, 

 of which the station received one-tenth, or 300,000. These were of such poor 

 quality that nearly two-thirds of them perished before the end of June, 



NEW ENGLAND TROUT AND SALMON STATIONS 



Included under this head are the stations located at Hartsville, 

 Mass., Nashua, N. H., East Orland, Me., and St. Johnsbury, Vt., 

 with their several auxiliary stations. The work of the group was 

 concerned principally with the propagation of trout and landlocked 

 salmon, though small numbers of other species v/ere handled also. 

 Their output as a whole slightly exceeded that of last 3"ear. 



Berkshire (Mass.) Station 



[W. H. Thomas, Superintendent] 



From the stock of brook trout carried in the station ponds, consisting of 474 

 fish 2 years old and older, 264,700 eggs were secured at spawning time. With 

 the consent of the proprietor, 45,000 eggs were collected from brook trout con- 

 tained in a privately owned pond, and 165,300 were purchased from a commercial 

 fish-culturist in Massachusetts. The fry from all this stock continued to develop 

 normally up to March 11, when the loss on one lot began increa.sing rapidly and 

 within four days had assumed epidemic proportions. Each lot of fry was sim- 

 ilarly attacked on reaching a certain stage, and practically all the fish were 

 lost eventually. Twice previously in recent years the station has undergone 

 a like experience with its brook-trout fry, on each occasion after a heavy snow 

 or rainfall. From the information that could be obtained it is believed that the 

 losses were in some way connected with the entrance of surface water in large 

 quantities into the intake pond. A noteworthy feature of the mortality is that 

 the rainbow trout were not affected but continued to develop normally even 



