PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1930 1183 



Applicants are expected to provide suitable receptacles for carrying 



fish, such receptacles to he in readiness at the railroad station spcfi- 

 lied in the advance notice of delivery. The vessels should hv, un- 

 covered and empty. 



In niakin<i; allotments of (ish on applicMtions the follo\vin<^ items 

 are taken into ccmsiderntion : The area of water to be stocked, size 

 and number of fish available for distribution, and the distance the 

 fish must be transported. The bureau distributes fish as finjjjerlings 

 or yearlings. At some stations, however, it is necessary to (listril)ute 

 a portion of the output as fry in order to prevent overcrowding. 



The basses, sunfishes, and other pond fishes are distributed from 

 three weeks to several months after they are hatched. The basses 

 usually range from 2 to G inches in length, and the sunfishes from 

 2 to 4 inches in length. Commercial fishes, such as whitefish, yellow 

 perch, etc., are produced in large numbei-s and are necessarily planted 

 as fry. As a general rule the bureau delivers fish in the order in 

 which the applications are received, and applications remain on 

 file until delivery of the desired fish can be made. 



Shipments of trout from the bureau's eastern stations are usually 

 made during May and June, and applications received after April 1 

 will be carried on file for attention during the following year. The 

 distribution of trout from stations in the Rocky Mountain region is 

 made from May to October, and applications from that section should 

 be submitted prior to May 1 in order to assure early delivery. Re- 

 quests for bass, sunfish, and crappie should be on file with the bureau 

 prior to Maj?- 1, as deliveries of such species are made between May 

 and December. 



During the year the bureau's cars traveled 115,497 miles of which 

 13,858 were free. Detached messengers traveled 390,356 miles of 

 which 78,243 were free. 



NEW DISTRIBUTION CAR 



Near the close of the distribution in the fall of 1929 it was neces- 

 sary to take out of commission car No. 3, for the reason that the 

 car was very old, and, being of wood construction, was unsafe in 

 modern steel trains. The condition of this car was forcibly brought 

 to the attention of the bureau in a telegram from the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. under date of October 

 16, 1929, as follows : " In interest of safety we can not undertake 

 to handle U. S. fish car three account wooden construction. New 

 Lisbon to Wausau tomorrow morning on train one naught three." 

 The car at best could be used only on short trips, so it was brought 

 to Washington and placed on a siding at Union Station. 



While the bureau's new distribution car No. 10 has been completed 

 and placed in commission, the service is still short one car. Car 

 No. 10 takes the place of car No. 4, which was disposed of several 

 years ago. 



The distribution w^ork is becoming heavier every year due to the 

 increased output of fish, especially of the larger sizes. Years ago, 

 when the bureau's output did not exceed 3,000,000,000 fish, it main- 

 tained 6 distribution cars. Only 4 cars are now available to handle 

 an output of over 7,000,000,000 "fish. 



