18 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



purpose was allowed by Con*;ress, and tire allotment ordinarily made 

 for the regular operations of the station had to be devoted to upkeep 

 of the plant. 



There was again a laroe run of sockeye salmon into Litnik Lake, 

 on Avhich the Afoonak station is located, and Avhile the egg collec- 

 tions were not equal to the previous years, wdien the hatchery was 

 filled and additional eggs were taken for incubation in gravel boxes, 

 the shortage was caused by the occurrence of floods during the spawn- 

 ing ])eri()d rather than to any diminution in the run of fish. 



As evidence of the trend and progress of salmon culture on the 

 Pacific coast, it may be noted that of the 124,484,000 salmon planted 

 by the Bureau in the last fiscal year 92.060,000, or over 71 per cent, 

 were of the fingerling size. 



CULTIVATION OF FISIIKS OF INTERIOR LAKES AND STREAMS. 



The diversified and Avidespread fish-cultural work addressed to the 

 food and game fishes of the streams and minor lakes of the interior 

 has been conducted along the usual lines. The principal species in- 

 volved are various fronts, landlocked salmon, black basses, crappies, 

 sunfishes, and bulFalofish. One of the fishes in this class most in 

 demand and most desirable for planting over a wide range of coun- 

 try is the eastern brook trout. The ])roductiou at all the trout 

 stations is not sufficient to meet the demand, and recourse has been 

 had to private hatcheries for supplies of eggs. The high prices now 

 asked for such eggs, however, have necessitated a curtailment of pur- 

 chases, and the shortage has been augmented by a poor take of e^gs 

 in Colorado, usually one of the most productive fields. The situation 

 emphasizes the desirability of developing as rapidly as possible the 

 proposed brook-trout station in the White Mountain National Forest 

 at a site that has been made available to the Bureau through the 

 courtesy of the Poorest Service and the State of New Hampshire. A 

 large part of the preliminary work connected with this project has 

 been completed, surveys have been made, a road constructed, tele- 

 phone line installed, a portion of the pond extension site cleared, and 

 a temporaiy dam constructed. The officers of the Forest Service 

 have rendered valuable assistance in the accomplishment of this 

 work, but the station can not be fully developed and put in opera- 

 tion until additional funds are provided. The special appropria- 

 tion requested for the purpose seems very small when compared with 

 the results that may reasonably be expected from such an under- 

 taking. 



Successful results attended the fish-cultural activities of the sta- 

 tions in the Kocky Mountain region, with the single exception of the 

 Colorado field, Avhere the work was adversely affected by the in- 

 clement weather and the serious difficulty in transporting the eggs 

 from the isolated field stations. Good collections of rainbow trout 

 eggs were made in Madison Valley, Mont., notwithstanding the 

 continuous cold and stormy weather prevailing throughout the 

 spawning season. Aside from other valuable assistance rendered 

 by the Montana Game, and Fish Commission, the Bureau is indebted 

 to it for its entire output of grayling. The work in the Yellowstone 

 National Park was of a satisfactory nature, and upward of 2,000,000 



