26 REPOKT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



The salmon woi'k on the Pacific coast was unusually successful. At 

 Baird, Cal., all previous records were exceeded, the total output, 

 including that of the auxiliar}^ stations, being 66,948,484 eggs and fry. 

 Even more eggs might have been collected had it been possible to 

 secure sufficient men to do the work. The results at Clackamas, 

 Oreg., and its siibstations likewise exceeded those of all previous 

 years, and the output of Baker Lake station, in Washington, with its 

 substation at Birdsvicw, was more than double that of an}- 3^ear in its 

 history. The Baker Lake station is the only one where the blueback 

 salmon can be propagated. 



A marked change in sentiment in regard to the artificial propagation 

 of salmon is noted among the Pacific coast salmon fishermen and pack- 

 ers, who arc reluctantly yielding their prejudice, and it is interesting 

 to note that fishermen who refuse to acknowledge the beneficial effects 

 of the work are frequently found basing their plans upon the run of 

 fish expected as the result of certain plants made from the hatcheries. 

 It appears that a few years ago they depended very largely upon the 

 July run as the mainstay of their business, the August run furnishing 

 a fiabby and inferior fish. In the past two years there has been a small 

 July run, and the increasing run through August and into September 

 has been of the same quality as were the fish which formerly were 

 taken in July. The fishermen, therefore, believe that the change has 

 been brought about by artificial propagation, and go into considerable 

 detail to follow out their reasoning. 



The striped bass work, taken up experimentally during the fiscal 

 year 1903 at Weldon, N. C, with such encouraging results, was con- 

 ducted on a much larger scale and with sufiicient success to warrant 

 extending the field of operations, if it is possible to find places where 

 spawning fish can be obtained in sufficient numbers. For the purpose 

 of collecting eggs from fish caught by local fishermen, 9 field camps 

 were established along the banks of the Roanoke River between 

 Roanoke Rapids and Halifax, N. C, a distance of nearly 20 miles. 

 Although the run of fish is said to have been several times smaller 

 than was ever before known, the results were most satisfactory, a total 

 of 13,683,000 eggs being taken and yielding 7,219,000 fry. The out- 

 put of the station was not as large as was anticipated, there l)eing a 

 loss of fry due to the fact that certain features of the hatching appa- 

 ratus were special and not fully perfected when the operations began. 

 The defects were remedied as soon as discovered, however, and another 

 season no such loss will occur. 



The output of Atlantic salmon depends very largely upon the amount 

 of money invested in adult fish, within the limits of the market supply. 

 At the Craig Brook station in Maine the salmon obtained by purchase 

 from the owners of the various weirs in the towns of Verona and 

 Penobscot during the preceding June and retained until ripe produced 



