EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 61 



of condition. They were hatchedfrom "fall" eggs. At this station 

 20 ponds of the series planned were completed in time to be utilized 

 in the rearing of chinook fry. They are patterned after the modern 

 series at Quilcene station, and can be emptied, thorouglily cleansed, 

 and otherwise handled at minimum expense. The most detrimental 

 effect of the intensive fisliing for cliinook salmon on the lower Colum- 

 bia River was experienced at the Big Wliite Salmon station, very 

 few fish appearing after the first two days of the run. 



At the Rogue River station, where 5,626,000 eggs of this species 

 were collected, only 1,683,000 were obtained the year before. The 

 run of fish was the largest ever known on that river, but only a few 

 escaped the fishermen and ascended to waters in the vicinity of the 

 station. These were spring run, and as no trace of a fall run reached 

 the hatchery, it is probable that the greater part of the run was 

 canned. The pack of two canneries at the mouth of the river ex- 

 ceeded anytliing in the past, the passage for the fish being practically 

 obstructed by the gill nets, whicli were installed in every favorable 

 eddy. The Ament dam across Rogue River again proved a serious 

 obstruction to the ascent of salmon to the hatchery, the fishway 

 on the north side not being in working order, while the ladder on the 

 opposite side has never been satisfactory. Steps are being taken 

 by the State board of fish commissioners and local sportsmen to 

 remedy these defects. While the steelhead-egg collections were 

 large, they were not proportionate to the number of fish in the lower 

 river. 



The first runs of fall cliinook and silver salmons in Applegate 

 Creek were nearly total failures so far as propagation was concerned. 

 Practically all the cliinook salmon were taken by commercial fisher- 

 men, and the silver salmon did not make their appearance in this 

 field in the usual numbers. Whether this was due to the extremely 

 low temperatures or was caused by oceanic conditions is unknown. 

 Collections of steelhead eggs exceeded former records, nearly 

 6,750,000 being taken; and to relieve the congested conditions in 

 the hatchery more than 2,000,000 were transferred to State hatch- 

 eries and to points in the East. Adult fishes, captured by means 

 of jumping box and trap, were held iri the station ponds for ripening, 

 but the excessively cold weather retarded their development and 

 they accumulated to such an extent that 5,000 were on hand at one 

 time. Tliis long retention caused a considerable percentage of the 

 eggs to become ''glassy" or "dry" and incapable of fertihzation. 



At several of the Bureau's Oregon stations where steelhead rearing 

 operations were conducted, the State authorities cooperated in the 

 work to the extent of providing funds for the feeding of the steel- 

 heads to the fingerling stage. This work was also actively supported 

 by various anglers associations in the State. 



The output of the Baird (Cal.) station and its auxiliary stations 

 for the year numbered 22,748,250 eggs, fry, and fingerhng fish, over 

 14,000,000 being of the latter classification. There was no run of 

 salmon in the McCloud River at Baird. The eggs hatched at this 

 point were transferred from the auxiliaries, cluefly from Battle and 

 Mill Creeks, which furnished nearly 10,000,000 chinook eggs for 

 development at Baird and the Cahfornia hatchery at Sisson. Fry 

 produced at Baird station numbered nearly 4,000,000, including 

 67,000 brook and rainbow trouts. 



99805°— 19 5 



