PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD PISHES, 1930 1147 



over during the spring of 1930 by the bureau as a field collecting 

 station for black-spotted trout eggs. This was formerly a produc- 

 tive source of early black-spotted trout eggs, but difficulties arising 

 with the Indians who control operations at this point prevented the 

 State of Nevada from continuing. By the time the necessary per- 

 mission was received from the Indians for the bureau to proceed, 

 the season had virtually passed and collections were negligible. 

 The work will be followed up, however, and the total output re- 

 planted in the lake for a number of years with the object of restor- 

 ing it to its former productivity. 



, DISTRIBUTION BY TRUCK 



A number of the eastern stations are distributing increasing pro- 

 portions of their output by motor truck. Unlike the practices fol- 

 lowed in the West, where transportation trucks are equipped with 

 air compressors or oxygen tanks, the bureau is utilizing an ordinary 

 aluminum distribution pail and is depending upon the motion aris- 

 ing from the travel to provide aeration. It has been found quite 

 practicable to distribute trout and bass in this manner within a 

 radius of practically 100 miles from the station. While the charging 

 of the initial cost of the truck and all cost of maintenance and upkeep 

 to distribution might result in an expense equivalent to, or slightly 

 above, the cost by rail, the fact remains that these stations maintain 

 a truck for other purposes. Hence no additional overhead or other 

 expense is involved in utilizing them for distribution purposes. It 

 is probable that, as the number of stations is increased and the dis- 

 tribution hauls shortened, there will be a considerable increase in 

 this method of transporting fish. 



EFFECT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS ON FISH CULTURE 



The past year presented a particularly striking example of the 

 hindrance which may be exerted on fish-cultural operations by un- 

 favorable weather. During the fall the lake trout egg collections at 

 the Duluth (Minn.) station were reduced to a small fraction of 

 normal on account of gales on Lake Superior preventing fishing 

 operations. Floods during May at the San Marcos (Tex.) station 

 overran the grounds and curtailed what had promised to be a very 

 satisfactory distribution of pondfish. Unseasonable and cold weather 

 during the spring reduced the production of pondfish at the South 

 Carolina and Georgia stations. Operations with the shad at Fort 

 Humphreys, Va., and the striped bass at Weldon, N. C, were a 

 virtual failure owing to abnormal water conditions arising from 

 prolonged dry weather preceding the spawning season. By the 

 close of the fiscal year the continuation of this drought had seriously 

 affected the water supply at a number of the eastern trout stations; 

 and unless normal conditions return shortly, the water shortage may 

 be reflected in subsequent egg collections at these points. Dry 

 weather conditions on the Pacific coast have affected the flow in some 

 of the salmon streams, preventing or discouraging the entrance of 

 t^e ,^sli and causing a shortage in the collection of eggs. 



