46 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
and after having been stripped they have been released in the river. 
Operations along these lines have resulted in the purchase of almost 
the entire catch and paying for the fish at a seemingly exorbitant 
price, this amounting in effect to the maintenance of the run for 
the sole purpose of furnishing employment to a few river fisher- 
men. 
After thoroughly canvassing the situation the bureau recently 
decided to curtail its expenditures in this direction, with the view 
of ascertaining if equally good results could not be brought about 
by less expensive methods. Taking all related facts into considera- 
tion, it would seem that the State of Maine should interest itself 
in providing efficient fishways over the dams which at present ob- 
struct the passage of the salmon to their natural spawning grounds. 
At the beginning of the fiscal year there were on hand 316 brood 
salmon, obtained by purchase from local fishermen in June. At the 
spawning season in October these fish yielded 911,720 eggs, from 
which 821,240 fry were hatched. On March 12, 1921, 600,000 eggs 
of this species were received from the New Brunswick hatcheries 
of the Canadian Government in exchange for eggs of the brook, 
rainbow, and blackspotted trouts. These were successfully in- 
cubated, producing 565,760 fry, all of which entered into the general 
distributions in Maine waters. 
Propagation of Fishes of Interior Waters. 
The serious inroads that have been made in the public waters of 
the interior as a result of the extensive and rapidly increasing use of 
the touring automobile are making it exceedingly difficult to maintain 
the fish supply in such waters. Recognizing the necessity for heavier 
stocking of their waters, many of the States have called upon the 
bureau for assistance, which, in view of its greatly overtaxed re- 
sources, it has not always been possible to extend. One of the great- 
est demands is for brook trout. The bureau does not’ produce its 
brook-trout eggs, but of necessity relies upon commercial fish-cul- 
turists for a large portion of its supply. In many instances such 
eggs can not be considered as more than a by-product of the com- 
mercial plants. They are, as a rule, taken from 2-year-old and 3- 
year-old fish and for that reason do not have the stamina that might 
be expected from the progeny of older fish. In view of this situa- 
tion, Congress has been asked for sufficient funds to establish a plant 
for the production of the brook-trout eggs needed to fill the bureau’s 
hatcheries. After placing it on an operative basis such a plant could 
be made to produce eggs of superior quality in numbers sufficient to 
meet the bureau’s requirements and at a smaller cost than is now 
involved in the purchase of a poor grade of eggs. 
The demand for smallmouth black bass can not be met by the 
hatcheries, the principal handicaps in the work with this species 
being unfavorable weather and insufficient pond space. Means for 
increasing the production of bass and other so-called warm-water 
fishes are again mentioned as being one of the most important re- 
quirements of the service. During a long period of time the output 
of such fishes has not kept pace with the demand, and to meet the 
deficiency the bureau has found it necessary to utilize for general 
