REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. oT 
The supply was further augmented by the transfer of nearly 26,000,000 
green eges to Detroit from the Monroe Piers fishery, in Lake Erie, 
making a total stock of 141,880,000, of which 116,120,000 were 
developed to the eyed stage, the losses up to that time amounting to 
slightly over 18 per cent. When sufficiently advanced for shipment, 
90,000,000 eggs were forwarded to the Charlevoix, Alpena, and Sault 
Ste. Marie subhatcheries, which are in the immediate vicinity of 
the spawning grounds in the upper lake; 6,120,000 were used to fill 
applications ; and from the remainder 18,500,000 of fry were hatched 
and planted in the Detroit River. 
Pike-perch operations during the spring in Michigan fields were 
prosecuted under such unfavorable conditions that up to the end of 
April, when large quantities of ice still covered the most. prolific 
spawning grounds, it was feared that the season would be a total 
failure. e prospects improved, however, with the disappearance 
of the ice sail in May, and the egg collections at the close of the 
season amounted to 166,800,000, the majority of which were taken 
im Saginaw Bay and in Munoscong Bay in the St. Marys River. 
Permission to operate in the latter field was granted by the Michigan 
fishery authorities as an experiment, and, as over 70,000,000 eggs 
were taken, it is hoped the work will be continued in that territory. 
While in the green state 18,750,000 pike-perch eggs were trans- 
ferred to the Duluth station and 12,600,000 to the substation at 
Sault Ste. Marie, the latter shipment being designed to test the 
practicability of hatching there the pike-perch fry required for 
applicants in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The water supply 
proved too cold, however, and all of the eggs perished. Of the 
135,450,000 eggs laid down in the Detroit hatchery, only 44,235,000 
survived to the eyed stage, about 324 per cent of the original number. 
The fry hatched therefrom were utilized in filling various applica- 
tions and in stocking public waters where egg collections had been 
made. 
The whitefish spawning season in Lake Erie was attended by 
several peculiar features. Although the water temperatures of the 
lake were below the average during the greater part of the summer, 
no whitefish whatever appeared on the spawning grounds until after 
the middle of November, and egg collections for the Put in Bay 
station were possible only from November 18 to December 7, making 
it one of the shortest spawning seasons on record. 
As arule, when whitefish seek the head of Lake Erie at the approach 
of the spawning season they congregate upon the reefs and shoals 
for the deposition of their eggs. In this instance, however, all but 
a very few remained in the deeper waters. This departure from the 
usual habit is probably accounted for by the prevailing heavy west 
winds, which had a tendency to blow the water away from the west 
end of the lake, making it very shallow and rough on the usual 
spawning grounds. At Monroe Piers, which in recent years has 
been one of the best whitefish fields operated by the Bureau, fish 
were so scarce that only a very few partly ripe ones were available 
for penning. From penned fish and from collections made directly 
from the fishermen only 40,720,000 eggs were secured, as against a 
three-year average of 170,000,000 in the same field. 
Taking the work as a whole, however, and making allowance for 
the short spawning season, the results were quite satisfactory, as, 
