REPORT OF THK (COMMISSION KR OF FISHERIES. 33 



777,000. Operations at the Woods Hole (Mass.) station were some- 

 what restricted on account of the few vessels operatinjL; on tiie fishing 

 grounds as a result of the low market price for fish. Anotiier factor 

 tliat largely affects tiie siux'css of the cod work at this [)oint is that 

 comparatively few of th(! vessels opei'iiting on the more impoi'tant 

 lishmg grounds are coiislnicted with wells for the transpoilatioii oH 

 live fish, and (he siip[)ly of brood fish, therefoi'e, is limit(!d. During 

 the season 4,Oi^.'5 hrood cod vvei'e received, and from (hem 2KO,IO(j,0()0 

 eggs were obtained. The pro[>agati(jn of winter flounders was un- 

 favorably affected by weather conditions, the severe cold at times 

 making it necessary to cut through several feet of ice in setting and 

 utten<hng the nets. At Wa<jUoit but 7f bro(Kl females, yielding 

 81!),Ui^7,0()0 eggs, were obtained. Work at VVickford, Iv. 1., which is 

 conducted later in tin; si^iison, was alm(jst a failure on account of un- 

 seasona(;ly high- water tempei'atures. TIk; st«!amer Jlal<;i/<)n, was put 

 into the ^»ew])(Jrt field to collect (^ggs from fish caught in dvx\\) waters, 

 but owing to the great depth and consequent low-water tem[)eratures 

 the lish did not s))awn fi-eely until it was too late in the .season to 

 make successful shipments of eggs to the hatchery. From a con- 

 signment of 25,000 steellu^ad eggs transferred to the Woods Hole 

 station from Jiirdsvievv, Wash., 2(),()0() fry w(!re hatched and lilxM'ated 

 in suitable waters on Cape ('od, most of thejii being placed in Johns 

 Pond, at Mash[)ee, Mass. 



I'ollock work was taken u[) by the (Gloucester (Mass.) .station in 

 November. Throughout the .s(;ason there appeared to be an abun- 

 dance of pollock on the inshore fishing grounds, but they were 

 continually moving, caiising great fluctuation in the daily catcli and 

 necessitating fre(iuent shifts of nets. Owing to this difliculty the 

 total egg collections for the .season amounted to but 507,270,000, 

 nearly 100,000,000 less than in 1921. 'JMie experinuuits with tlui 

 j)ole flounder undertaken in the spring of 1921 were continued into 

 July, and considcirabh; ijiformation regarding tin; nature of tlu; fish 

 was .sccuhmI. It appears that most of the fish spawn in August 

 and Sejitember. 1 he eggs are about one-twentieth of an inch in 

 diameter, numbering approximately 470,000 to the liduid quart; they 

 are buoyant, transi)arent, nonadhesive, and can not be successfidly 

 trans{)orted fr(jm the sijawning grounds to the hatclun-y, and it 

 would appear necessary, if the propagation of the s[)(!cies is to be 

 continued, to secure eggs from th(5 rij>e fish caught by the com- 

 mercial fishermen, fertilize them, and plant tlu^m on the sj)awning 

 grounds. The collection of cod eggs for the (Jhjucester station ex- 

 tended practically through the entire winter and spring, though most 

 of them were taken in March and April. During November and 

 December numerous reports were received concerning the .spawning 

 of large numbers of cod off the coast of Plymouth, Mass., but on 

 account of the bad weather it was not possible to make large collec- 

 tions there. In January in the Ipswicn IJay field, the fishing boats 

 were making large catches, when a heavy storm came uj), scattering 

 the fish and {)reventing fi.shing operations until late in ManJi. With 

 the approach of spring most of the gill-net fleet withdrew from this 

 field, and from that time on the hatchery was dependent on the fleet 

 of small boats operating there and in Massachusetts liay. Heavy 



