\ 
-6 DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS, 1916. 
fishes which have not been fed can be furnished in much larger num- 
bers than those which have been held at considerable expense at the 
Bureau’s stations until they have attamed the size of fingerlings. 
It is the aim of the Bureau in all cases to allot a sufficient number of 
a given species to form a brood stock for the water area described, 
and those interested in the lake or stream so stocked are relied upon 
to see that the fish are afforded proper protection, by the restriction 
or prohibition of fishing, until a sufficient length of time has elapsed 
for them to reproduce, a period which will vary from two to three 
years, according to the species furnished. 
Fry or very young fish can be shipped in much larger numbers 
than those of the fingerling sizes. A 10-gallon transportation can 
will safely carry from 2,000 to 3,000 fry of the trouts or black basses, 
from 500 to 1,000 one-inch fish of these species, and of those 2 inches 
long, from 100 to 300. It has been calculated that the varying num- 
bers of the different sizes stated have practically equal value for stock 
purposes, as the losses in open waters from natural causes are in 
about the ratios indicated. 
Some of the commercial species propagated—whitefish, pike perch, 
white perch, and shad, which are distributed only as fry—are so 
small that as many as 100,000 can be carried to a 10-gallon can. 
Fish intended for applicants are carried to destination in specially- 
equipped railroad cars belonging to the Bureau, or in the regular 
baggage cars attached to passenger trains, an experienced messenger 
accompanying them for the purpose of aerating the water en route. 
The only expense the applicant is put to in connection with the trans- 
action is that of transporting the fish from the railroad station des- 
ignated in the application to the waters in which they are to be 
liberated. Some days in advance of an intended delivery the con- 
signee is notified and given detailed instructions regarding the 
reception and care of the fish after they are turned over to him. He 
is notified again by wire a few hours before the arrival, in order that 
he may meet the train and receive the consignment, which will be 
handed to him from the car by the messenger. 
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916, the Bureau received | 
12,487 applications from individuals and associations for fish to stock 
public and private waters. Requests for blanks upon which to sub- 
mit applications for fish should be addressed to the Commissioner of 
Fisheries, Washington, D. C. 
