REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 73 



that time, but the sea water all alon^ the New England coast, for 

 15 to 25 miles offshore, was freshened to such an extent that very 

 heavy and sometimes total losses occurred when eggs were carried 

 in it. The haddock as well as the cod were affected by it, and many 

 of the haddock eggs died in transit to the station. The total col- 

 lections of haddock eggs were 10,820,000, which yielded an output 

 of 6,720,000 fry. 



Practically aU of the 340 brood flatfish secured for the station were 

 taken in fyke nets set during March in Gloucester Harbor, the at- 

 tempts to obtain additional supplies in Ipswich Bay and in the 

 vicinity of Salem being unsuccessful. From this stock 191,250,000 

 eggs were derived and 169,660,000 fry were hatched and planted, 

 the distributions being made in the harbors and coves of Ipswich 

 Bay and Massachusetts Bay. 



Active fish-cultural operations for the season at the Woods Hole 

 station began with the acquisition of the first lot of brood cod, on 

 November 21, and from that time until December 1 purchases of 

 these fish aggregating 3,155 were made daily from commercial 

 fishermen. Tliis appeared to be the best brood stock the station 

 had had for several years, but from a fish-cultural standpoint it 

 proved to be disappointing, as the number of males and barren 

 females contained in the lot was disproportionately large, resulting 

 in a smaller yield of eg^s by 48,000,000 than that of the previous 

 year, and a reduction of 23,000,000 in the output of fry. Eggs to 

 the number of 238,630,000 were obtained from these fish between 

 November 28 and February 25 ; the height of the spawning season 

 occurred in December. On one occasion during December the 

 hatchery became overcrowded, necessitating the transfer of a con- 

 signment of 6,810,000 eggs to the Gloucester station for develop- 

 ment. The losses sustained in hatching aggregated 61,642,000, or 

 about 26 per cent of the stock retained. After having finished 

 spawning, the surviving brood stock, numbering 2,648 fish, were 

 liberated on March 1. The distribution of the fry extended from 

 December to March, inclusive. 



In advance of the flatfish spawning season, additional hatching 

 equipment was constructed, with the view of increasing the output of 

 this species over that of last year. However, this proved to be impos- 

 sible owing to the difficulties encountered in securing a brood stock. 

 Before fyke nets for the capture of this fish could be installed in 

 Waquoit Bay, ice 7 inches in thickness had to be sawed out, and a 

 second sawing was necessitated in order to effect their removal. In 

 other places floating ice, shifted by wind and tide, covered the nets 

 and rendered them inaccessible. The collections at Menemsha Pond 

 v/ere greatly hampered by scarcity of fish, despite the fact that more 

 were available at that point last year than could be accommodated at 

 the Woods Hole hatchery, and some 500 barrels of flatfish were taken 

 from the pond by commercial fishermen. 



The effort to obtain brood flatfish in Narragansett Bay met with a 

 larger measure of success than at either of the other fisheries, not- 

 withstanding the operations were materiaUy interfered with by the 

 high winds, which not only put many of the nets out of commission 

 but caused the loss of approximately 60,000,000 eggs by washing them 

 out of the live cars where the brood stock had been stored. From all 

 three fields 2,787 male and female fish were taken. Although strong 



