REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 13 
The remainder were carried through to the hatching stage with a loss 
of only 2 per cent. Because of adequate hatchery room, it was 
impossible to carry all of the fry, and Paserlant plan hinge had to be 
made in order to prevent congestion in the troughs. The absorption 
of the yolk sac was completed in May and feeding began the last of 
that month. Spent blueback salmon, salted and preserved in barrels, 
were utilized as food for the young fish. A meat chopper for grinding 
this food was set up in the dynamo room and operated with power from 
the dynamo turbine. Last year the salted salmon was cooked, 
preeeey and grated, and a meal thus obtained, and while the finger- 
ings thrived on it at first, their growth appeared to be arrested 
later and heavy mortality ensued. hether this was due to the con- 
dition of the food or to the high temperature of the water during the 
period of feeding could not be determined, but in 1916 the salted 
salmon was freshened and ground but not cooked and better results 
were attained. 
The substation established the previous year on Ketchikan Creek 
for the collection of eggs of the humpback salmon was again opened 
for operations, but very early in theseason protests against the work 
were made by the citizens of Ketchikan and it was decided to abandon 
it. At that time only 325,000 eggs had been taken, and as the 
expense of carrying them until hatched would have been consider- 
able they were deposited in the gravel of the creek where collected. 
A search was then instituted for a new site, and it is believed a very 
Bead one has been found on Smeaton Bay about 6 miles from the 
ehm Canal, where experimental work will be continued next 
season. 
In addition to the transfers of eggs already mentioned, the output 
from the Yes Bay station comprised 32,920,000 fry and 20,876,000 
fingerlings, and at the close of the year 650,000 fingerlings were being 
retained for later distribution. 
At the Baker Lake station, in Washington, the work of capturin 
a brood stock of blueback salmon was undertaken early in July, an 
by the close of the collecting period 9,127 fish in good condition had 
been secured and placed in the slough at the head of Baker Lake to 
ripen. Various repairs had just been made to this inclosure to insure 
the safety of the impounded fish, but, despite the precautions taken, 
a large number of them escaped in October during a period of con- 
tinuous rainfall which raised the level of the lake fully 15 feet. It 
is estimated that the egg collections, which amounted to 3,111,000, 
~ were at least 7,000,000 short of what they would have been had the 
loss of fish not occurred. In addition to this work, eggs of the 
chinook salmon, silver salmon, and steelhead trout, aggregating 
504,200, were taken and hatched and the fry were planted locally. 
The output of blueback-salmon fry from Baker Lake station num- 
bered 1,875,000, and 732,379 were still on hand at the close of the 
year. In the course of the year a new hatchery and barn were con- 
structed, various improvements were made to the cottage and mess 
house, and a fire-service pipe line was laid. 
From the Birdsview station there were distributed early in the 
year 620,280 blackspotted and steelhead trout fry and also fingerling, 
chinooks, and Einsbark salmons aggregating nearly 344,000, all of 
which had been carried over from the previous fiscal year. The run 
of humpback salmon in streams in the vicinity of the Birdsview sta- 
6111°—17——2 
