PEOPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1926 363 



adjoining the hatchery building and fitted up to receive spring water that 

 has passed through the hatchery. Between October 24 and December 22 brook- 

 trout eggs to the number of 637,200 were collected from brood fish held in the 

 station ponds. These were of good quality and over 90 per cent of them were 

 hatched. Five hundred thousand eyed brook-trout eggs were received from 

 the State of South Dakota in exchange for eggs of the Loch Leven trout, 

 and 1,118,700 additional eyed eggs of that species were handled in pur- 

 suance of an agreement entered into with the authorities of that State, 

 whereby the State was to defray all expenses connected with the purchase 

 of the eggs from a commercial firm while the bureau was to incubate 

 them and care for the resulting fry until May 1, at which time they were 

 to be divided, the State receiving two-fifths and the bureau the remainder. As 

 a result of this cooperative work the bureau received more than 452,000 

 fingerling trout for distribution to applicants. The year's work at this point 

 included the collection of 203,200 Loch Leven trout eggs and 43,200 rainbow- 

 trout eggs from the station brood stock, all of which were incubated with only 

 small losses. 



Sprtngville ( Utah ) Station 



[Claudius Wallicii, Superintendent] 



The year's fish-cultural work in this field was concerned with the propagation 

 of the brook, rainbow, and black-spotted trout. Though the stock of eggs han- 

 dled in the course of the year was large, none of the resulting fry were dis- 

 tributed until the No. 1% fingerling stage had been attained, and more than 

 37,000 were from 5 to G inches long when disposed of. All of the fish were 

 in first-class condition when shipped, and as only a comparatively small num- 

 ber of the larger sizes could be carried to a can, their distribution involved 

 numerous messenger trips. The brook-trout work at Fish Lake, Utah, was 

 taken up early in October, at which time one of the station employees was 

 detailed there at the request of the State fish commission to assist in guarding 

 the brook trout from the depredations of poachers. The first eggs taken in 

 this field arrived at the main station on October 28, and further shipments, 

 extending to December 9, brought the total receipts for the season up to 

 2,836,000, of which number 85 per cent were brought to the eyed stage. Ship- 

 ments of eyed eggs totaling 1,785,000 were forwarded to applicants and other 

 stations of the bureau. The remainder were incubated at the station. 



The rainbow trout on hand at the opening of the fiscal year were carried to 

 the No. 3 fingerling stage before being distributed. Eggs were taken from the 

 brood stock of this species held in the station ponds between November 27 and 

 March 17, the yield (from 1,137 female fish) amounting to 1,669,700 eggs. 

 Though extreme care was exercised in the impregnation of the eggs, for some 

 unknown reason, the percentage of fertilization was poor, and only a little 

 over half of the collection hatched. From eggs secured from wild stock at 

 Fish Lake, during the spring, in cooperation with the State of Utah, the station 

 acquired 950,000 additional spawn. Some of the eggs were of inferior quality, 

 but later receipts were of a much higher grade and yielded a large percentage 

 of fry. No black-spotted trout egg collections were undertaken by the station 

 force and the year's work with this species was confined to the incubation of 

 265,000 green eggs, received in connection with collections made by the State 

 fish commission in Strawberry Reservoir. The fertility of these eggs was also 

 poor, only about 47 per cent of them producing fry. 



NEW ENGLAND TROUT AND SALMON STATIONS 



The four stations comprising this group are located in Maine, New 

 Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Their work and that of 

 their substations is concerned principally with the brook and rain- 

 bow trout and the landlocked salmon, though small numbers of lake 

 trout, Loch Leven trout, smallmouth black bass, steelhead salmon, 

 and humpback salmon also appear in their tables of output. 



