20 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Experiment Station of the New York State College of Forestry, 

 Syracuse, N. Y. Since his return Doctor Kendall has been con- 

 cerned with the continuation of his former studies of the salmonidse 

 of the Atlantic coast. 



Special attention has been given to a study of the smelts and the 

 smelt fishery. The resulting data have been compiled and a paper 

 is now in course of preparation. This paper discusses the distribu- 

 tion of these important little fishes, angling for them and their 

 importance commercially, and the history, decrease, and present 

 condition of the fishery. Extensive field work has been carried on 

 and additional observations made on the breeding habits. The life 

 histories of these fish are being studied, and extensive scale collec- 

 tions are being utilized in determining age, rate of growth, and 

 certain racial peculiarities. 



The trout investigations involved, especially, the analysis of 

 brood stocks of rainbow trout in an effort to determine their com- 

 positions. It has become evident that more than one species of 

 trout are propagated under the name of rainbow, and there is some 

 evidence to show that certain difficulties encountered in the propaga- 

 tion of trout are clue to this fact. Other data have been secured 

 which add materially to our knowledge concerning favorable pond 

 conditions for trout culture and the rate of growth of trout. 



It has been found that adult brook trout {ScdveUnus fontindlis) 

 naturally inhabiting small bodies of water ai"e usually smaller in 

 size than those of larger lakes and streams. It has also been observed 

 that the headwaters of streams are inhabited by trout smaller than 

 those taken from the lower sections or waters into which they flow, 

 and that the general size increases downstream with the increase in 

 volume of the stream. The usual assumption is that the trout of the 

 upper waters are smaller than those below because they are younger. 

 Observations by Doctor Kendall tend to disprove this assumption. 

 A lot of very small trout — 314 to 5 inches — taken from the upper 

 waters of a stream in Maine were examined and found to be adult 

 and near breeding condition. This observation led to a comparison 

 with larger trout from the lower ]3ortions of the stream, and it was 

 found that fish twice as long as diose of the upper waters — 7 to 10 

 inches — were immature, and that they would not have spawned that 

 year. An examination of the scales disclosed that both of these lots 

 of trout, despite their extreme variation in size and sexual develop- 

 ment, belonged to the same year classes, and that they ranged, ap- 

 proximately, from 2 to 4 j^ears of age. 



The possible significance of this variation in the size of trout with 

 relation to fish culture, the restocking of waters, and the protection 

 and conservation of trout has not been given serious consideration. 

 Several problems are immediately suggested — the probable effect of 

 heredity upon subsecjuent growth in a lake or stream from small 

 stock, the possible overstocking of headwaters with the attendant 

 result of small mature fish, ancl whether the present general sj^stem 

 of protection by size limit is the best available. 



Some observations were made upon Atlantic salmon, particu- 

 larly in the markets of Portland, Me., and interesting ancl valuable 

 data were obtained. Practically no work has been done on the At- 

 lantic salmon since that of Atkins, many years ago, who stated 



