354 



IT. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Missisquoi River, seining under the ice in quest of a brood stock was at once 

 undertaken and continued as conditions permitted until April 22, when fur- 

 ther work of that character was rendered dangerous owing to the softening of 

 the ice. During this period, 2,272 brood-pike perch were taken, transferred to 

 the hatchery, and placed in retaining pens. With the general breaking up of 

 the ice on April 27, seining was resumed and continued to May 5, though it was 

 evident that the majority of the fish had already passed into the river and some 

 were returning, as spent fish. The brood stock acquired numbered 4,440, of 

 which 2,SS0 were females. From this source an aggregate of 117,653,000 eggs^ 

 was taken, and one-half of them were transferred to the Pleasant Mount State 

 hatchery of the Pennsylvania fish commission. One million eyed eggs of the 

 bureau's share were forwarded to the Erwin (Tenn.) station and to Central 

 Station, Washington, D. C. The fry resulting from the rest were distributed 

 to applicants and planted in suitable places in Lake Champlain. From 

 1S,400,000 eyed yellow-perch eggs collected in the march adjoining the Swanton 

 hatchery early in May, approximately 17,000,000 fry were hatched. Some of 

 these were distributed to applicants and some were returned to parent waters. 



Bbyans Point (Md.) Substation 



[L. G. Harron, Superintendent] 



The year's work in the propagation of shad in this field is discussed on 

 page 358 under the heading "Anadromous fishes of the Atlantic Coast.*' Opera- 

 tions connected with the preparation of the hatchery and its equipment for 

 active fish-cultural work were undertaken on March 1. The work of procuring 

 adult yellow perch from commercial fishermen of the region to serve as a brood 

 stock was taken up on March 3 and prosecuted vigorously up to March 20, 

 resulting in the acquirement of about 23.400 fish. In accordance with the usual 

 method, these fish spawned in live cars anchored in Accokeek Creek, and 

 101,180,000 eggs were collected therefrom between March 24 and April 7. All 

 of the resulting fry were liberated on the principal spawning grounds of the 

 species in tributaries of the Potomac River. The light yield of eggs from the 

 large brood stock on hand is attributed to the small size of the fish, the average 

 length of the females being less than iy % inches. 



RESCUE OPERATIONS 



La Ckosse (Wis.) Station and Substations 

 [C. F. Culler, in charge] 



Early in the fiscal year the central directing base for fish-rescue operations 

 was transferred from Homer, Minn., to La Crosse, Wis., where a new hatchery, 

 84y 2 by 53% feet, was constructed. On the first floor of the building is a large 

 hatching room, offices, and an aquarium for the exhibition of the fishes* of the 

 region, while storage rooms and dormitories for the use of the station employees 

 are fitted up on the second floor. A garage, 30 feet by 36 feet, for housing the 

 bureau's trucks, also was erected. 



The rescue territory covered during the year extended from Reeds Landing, 

 Minn., to a point about 14 miles below P»ellevue, Iowa, and from Rock Island, 

 111., to Montpelier, 111. During the operation season which opened early in 

 July and continued until late in November, 149,814,899 fish were salvaged, the 

 cost of the work amounting to approximately 14% cents per thousand. In 

 adition to the rescue work, considerable numbers of eggs of the brook, rainbow, 

 and Loch Leven trout are handled at this station annually. During the year 

 cooperative agreements were entered into with the owners of several trout 

 ponds in the vicinity of La Crosse for the collection of brook-trout eggs, and 

 from one pond as many as 310,000 eggs were obtained. Due to lack of vitality, 

 however, this lot was a total loss. A smaller number of eggs, secured at an- 

 other point, were incubated with a loss of only 6 per cent. Late in December 

 a consignment of 750,000 brook-trout eggs, forwarded by a commercial dealer 

 in Pennsylvania, was found on arrival at the station to be badly frozen, and 

 about 396,000 dead eggs were removed in the first picking. These dead eggs- 

 were replaced later by the shipment of another lot, but the fry developed from the 

 second consignment were small and the losses abnormal. A shipment of 

 500,000 brook-trout eggs forwarded from a commercial hatchery in Colorado 

 in exchange for eggs of other species apparently was in good condition on 



