PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1024 407 



and from all points occupied a total of 604,159,000 eggs of good qual- 

 ity were obtained. 



During the spring spawning period a persistent effort was made to 

 secure eg^s of the mackerel, scup, and sea bass. No success was 

 attained, however, owing to the difficulty of finding ripe fish of both 

 sexes at the same time. On the single occasion when mackerel 

 spawn might have been taken and fertilized some delay was experi- 

 enced in starting the engine of the motor boat, and the traps had 

 all been lifted prior to the arrival of the spawn takers. On this 

 particular morning about 60 barrels of large mackerel were taken in 

 the traps. 



ANADROMOUS FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST 



The fish-cultural work of the three stations under this head was 

 concerned with the Atlantic salmon, the shad, river herring, and the 

 humpback salmon. The total output of these species in round num- 

 bers during the year was 110,887,000, a decrease of approximately 

 56,000,000 as compared with that of the preceding year. The reduc- 

 tion in this branch of the work was due principally to the unfavorable 

 weather conditions encountered during the shad spawning season on 

 the Potomac River and in the Albemarle Sound region. 



Owing to the presence of polluted water on the spa"UTiing grounds 

 of the striped bass in the Roanoke River near Weldon, N. C, the 

 bureau's hatchery for the propagation of that species was not opened 

 during the year. 



SHAD 



Bryans Point ( Md.) substation. — The most important work of this 

 station is that addressed to the propagation of shad, and for a long 

 period of years such work was almost uniformly successful. Notwith- 

 standing the aggressive commercial fishing to which it has been sub- 

 jected, the run of shad in this river is noteworthy in not having 

 suffered diminution to the extent that has occurred in all other 

 streams resorted to by this species. The maintenance of the shad 

 run in the Potomac, in contrast to the entire disappearance of the 

 species in many streams and greatly reduced runs in all others, has 

 frequenth' been cited as a proof of the efficacy of artificial propaga- 

 tion in regions where the environment is reasonably favorable. 



The run of shad in the Potomac River during the fiscal year 1924 

 proved to be almost an entire failure, both from the viewpoint of the 

 fisheiies and fish culture. Undoubtedly this unfortunate state of affairs 

 was brought about by truly remarkable conditions. The first unfavor- 

 able weather affecting the run of fish was on Maiish 10, when a heavy- 

 snowstorm occurred, accompanied by a strong northeast gale and fol- 

 lowed by a heavy rain. A second severe snowfall was experienced 

 on April 1, and on May 11 the river w^as subjected to one of the 

 heaviest freshets recorded. It thus transpired that throughout the 

 natural spawning season a continuous series of unfavorable conditions 

 prevailed — unseasonably low water temperatures from the late snow- 

 storms, and flood stages accompanied by extreme turbidity of the 

 water. The same conditions extended throughout the entire length 

 of the river. 



