402 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Andalusia, 111., and in the vicinity of Atchafalaya, La. The total 

 number of fish removed from drying poolsand sloughs was 150,509,840, 

 and all of the:«e were returned to their native waters with the excep- 

 tion of 1,095,559, or slightly more than one-half of 1 per cent of the 

 aggregate, this comparatively small fraction of the total representing 

 the fish that were diverted from the rescue work to meet the require- 

 ments of applicants in various parts of the country. 



In connection with the rescue work the practice within recent 

 years of infecting suitable host fishes with the glochidia of the com- 

 mercially imj:)ortant fresh-water mussels was again taken up, and as 

 a result of the work 1,335,595,000 larval mussels were released in a 

 state of parasitism in waters favorable to their development and 

 growth. 



The Mississippi River did not attain as high a stage as usual during 

 the spawning season of the native food and game fishes. As a con- 

 sequence a smaller area of the adjacent lowlands than formerly was 

 overflowed, and the receding waters naturally left a much smaller 

 number of pools and ponds. Because of such conditions it was pre- 

 dicted early in the season that the results of the rescue work would 

 fall short of the average numbers. As it progressed, however, it 

 became apparent that, while the area of backwaters in which fish 

 were stranded was considerably smaller than in some seasons, the 

 fish population of such waters as were accessible was very dense. The 

 effects of this density were made manifest in the serious mortality 

 that occurred at many points and by the smaller average size of the 

 young fish taken. Summarized tabular statements of the rescue 

 and mussel infection operations appear on pages 370 and 404. 



While commercial fishing for buffalofish and carp was in progress 

 in the vicinity of Bellevue, Iowa, the bureau's spawn takers collected 

 and fertilized upward of 99,000,000 buffalofish eggs and 13,500,000 

 eggs of the carp. These eggs, which otherwise would have been a 

 total loss, were deposited immediately after being fertilized on the 

 local spawning areas. 



In view of the vast importance of the fishes involved in the bureau's 

 rescue operations, the facility with which they may be prosecuted, the 

 low cost of the work as compared with the results attained, and the 

 unquestioned benefits accruing therefrom it seems particularly unfor- 

 tunate that the small amountof money annually available for the pur- 

 pose can not be augmented sufficiently to permit of an extension of the 

 work, at least to the extent that the fields now occupied may be fully 

 covered. 



The season under discussion is an illustration of the desirability of 

 more extended rescue work. Because of the rather unusual conditions, 

 which have been explained elsewhere, millions of young fish were 

 densely crowded into restricted waters, the areas of which were con- 

 stantly and rapidly diminishing through evaporation and seepage. 

 Under such conditions the mortality among the?e fishes must obvi- 

 ously be very CTeat, and the only remedy lies in removing them from 

 their unnatural environment and liberating them in the river. 



Of added interest and value to this work are the recentl}^ adopted 

 measures for mussel infection in connection therewith. By means of 

 it enormous numbers of larval mussels are provided with suitable 

 host fishes, without which they can not survive this stage of their exist- 

 ence. The work is most heartily indorsed by all interests concerned, 



