PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1937 57 



with an area of approximately 90 acres, lies at the very head of the 

 TJmpqua drainage. A total of 5,946 trout were reported caught, of 

 which 5,878 were rainbow and the rest, eastern brook trout. The 

 catch per angling hour was 4.18 fish. The total catch weighed 1,821 

 pounds which is a production of approximately 21) pounds of trout 

 per acre of Avater area. The average length of the fish taken was 

 about 91/^ inches with an average weight of approximately 5 ounces. 

 In 1935 and 1930 a total of 40,000 eastern brook trout were planted 

 in Fish Lake, yet as noted above only 68 of this species were re- 

 2^orted caught. 



Through cooperative work in the Willamette National Forest in 

 Oregon, a total of 174 lakes have been surveyed in the last 2 years 

 and stocking policies recommended. 



The U. S. Forest Service also financed the collection of catch records 

 on Squaw Creek, a tributary of the Pit River in the Shasta National 

 Forest. While no records were obtained for the month of May it 

 is estimated that they are about 98 percent complete for the remain- 

 der of the season. A total of 2,497 rainbow and 7 brown trout were 

 reported taken. The average catch was 7.4 fish per angler. Of rain- 

 bow trout taken, the 6- to 8-inch group formed 48.70 of the total 

 and the 4- to 6-inch group 29.75 percent. Fish over 10 inches long 

 made up only 5.3 percent of the rainbows caught. It is interesting to 

 note that in the 4-year period from 1933 to 1936, 140,000 brown trout 

 were planted in Squaw Creek. The fact that only 7 trout of this 

 species showed up in the catch is strong evidence that conditions 

 in Squaw Creek are not suited to brown trout and that the fish 

 planted in this stream were wasted. 



Introduction of Mexican trout. — In May 1937, Dr. P. R. Needham, 

 accompanied by Fred Johnson of the U. S. Forest Service, made a 

 trip to the Santo Domingo River in Baja California, Mexico, to secure 

 living specimens of the southernmost coastal rainbow trout, Sal mo 

 nelsoni. The effort was highly successful and 50 fish were trans- 

 ported to the State hatchery at Forest Home in Southern California. 

 These fish are to form the nucleus of a hatchery brood stock of this 

 strain of trout. Efforts along this line are considered well worth- 

 while since it is hoped that these fish may be adapted to warmer 

 water than other species of trout and that they also may prove to be 

 nonmigratory. As soon as sufficient numbers are obtained, both 

 laboratory and field experiments will be conducted to determine their 

 true character and range of adaptability to varying stream conditions. 



Nutrition studies. — Studies on trout nutrition have been continued 

 at Cortland, N. Y., by Dr. C. M. McCay and A. V. Tunison. Two 

 methods of attack upon the problems have been employed. The first 

 attempts to improve current practices by the introduction of new 

 feedstuff's that are available in large quantities and by improving 

 the equality of the mixtures in current use. The second attempts to 

 secure fundamental data in the fields of biochemistry, growth, and 

 physiology in the interest of providing a sound basis of true science 

 for guiding our changing practices. The study of disease at the 

 Cortland Hatchery has been of mimor importance since this involves 

 special techniques that are not available. However, some attention 

 has been given to diseases as they have arisen from time to time 

 in the course of the other studies. 



