REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 15 



ings have been razed, and the lumber therein has been used in con- 

 struction work elsewhere. 



Mutually profitable cooperative relations have continued between 

 the Bureau and the Dominion and provincial fishery authorities of 

 Canada. The collecting of spawn of the whitefish and the cisco in 

 the Great Lakes has thus been facilitated, and an exchange of trout 

 eggs for Atlantic salmon eggs has been effected. 



COOPERATION WITH FISH-FKOTECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS. 



A matter of great interest in connection with the fish-cultural 

 work in interior waters is the rapid increase within recent 3'ears in 

 the number of fish-protective associations througliout the country. 

 Generally speaking, these organizations are composed of the leading 

 citizens of the community, and the influence they exert in maintain- 

 ing the fishery resources of the minor waters and in securing a pro})er 

 utilization of those resources is most beneficial to the public at large. 

 They make a practice of securino^ the services of men of experience 

 in the stocking of local waters with fish life, and in some cases they 

 maintain, at tneir own expense, ponds in which to rear to a larger 

 size consignments of young fish obtiiined from State and Federal 

 hatcheries for planting in public streams, ponds, and lakes. Another 

 important service rendered by such organizations is the respect tliey 

 inspire for the State fish laws, as most of tliem advocate adequate 

 protective laws and their rigid observance by their members and the 

 public. The Bureau has been pleased to cooperate with such organi- 

 zations in tlie stocking of local waters with the most suitable kinds 

 of fish. The cooperation has had the effect of reducing the expense of 

 distribution and of increasing the chances of survival of the fishes 

 planted. 



HATCHING OF RU'ER FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD. 



Hatcheries for the commercial fishes of the Atlantic coast rivers are 

 located on the Penobscot Kivor in Maine, the Potomac River in Mary- 

 land and Virginia, and Albemarle Sound and Roanoke River in 

 North Carolina. 



A full disciLssion of the circumstances attending the artificial 

 propagation of Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot River was con- 

 tained in the last annual report. The disinclination of the Bureau to 

 continue paying to Penobscot fishermen a bonus for the careful 

 liandlingof adult salmon purchased from them resulted in the refusal 

 of many of them to sell their fish to the Bureau, The local collection 

 of -Vtiantic .s^almon eggs was therefore considerably smaller than 

 usual. l»ut it was augmented by the receipt of COO.OOO eggs from Cana- 

 dian hatcheries, in return for which the Canadian Government was 

 furnislied an equal number of eggs of the black-spotted tiout and 

 rainbow trout. While it is probably true that the careful handling 

 of salmon taken in the weirs involves a small amount of extra Avork 

 to the fi--lierm<'n. this is believed to be more than offset l)y the benefits 

 accruing to them fi-om the hatehery. Hence, the Bureau feels justi- 

 fied in discontinuing the payment of this so-called bonus. Under the 

 'xisting arranirement each fisherman receives the market price for his 



