REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 41 



The small appropriation made by Congress in an act approved July 

 1, 1916, for a lobster-rearing plant proved entirely inadequate, even 

 when the capacity of the proposed plant was materially reduced from 

 time to time in an effort to bring it within the appropriation. Re- 

 quest for a supplemental appropriation was not approved by Congress. 

 In these circumstances, the appropriation has been turned back into 

 the Treasury in the expectation that the project may be revived later 



RESCUE OF STRANDED FOOD FISHES. 



An outgrowth of the fish-cultural work that has assumed very 

 great value and importance is the salvaging of food fishes from land- 

 locked ponds, pools, and bayous in overflowed districts of the Missis- 

 sippi valley. These fish, in the natural course of events, are destined 

 to perish and be entirely wasted when the shallow ponds in which 

 they have been left by the receding waters become dry or frozen. 

 During the fiscal year 1919 headquarters for rescue work were estab- 

 lished at eight points on the Mississippi extending from Minnesota 

 and Wisconsin to Mississippi and Arkansas; and seining parties 

 from the various fish-cultural stations and the biological station at 

 Fairport covered a wide extent of territory and made collections in 

 excess of those of any previous year. Especially effective work was 

 done from Homer, La Crosse, Bellevue, and North McGregor. When 

 the season closed about December 1, there had been salvaged over 

 55,000,000 young fishes, representing practically every important 

 species inhabiting those waters, with buffalofish, carp, catfish, crappie, 

 and yellow perch predominating, as shown in the following table : 



Fishes Rescued From Overflowed Waters of the Mississippi Valley During 

 THE First Six Months op the Fiscal Year 1919. 



Black bass, largemouth 445, 954 



Black bass, smallmouth 2, 190 



Buffalofish 2, 590, 335 



Carp 19, 748, 562 



Catfish 12,607,446 



Crappie 15, 805, 540 



Drum 18, 977 



Pike 375, 937 



Pike perch 10, 710 



Rock bass 810 



Simfish 1, 065, 652 



White l)ass 8, 665 



Yellow bass 600 



Yellow perch 2, 354, 438 



Miscellaneous 747, 250 



Total 55, 783, 075 



Practically all the fishes thus saved are replanted in the adjacent 

 public waters, but a few are consigned to applicants in various States. 

 In 1919, 55,173,000 fish, more than 98.9 per cent of the total collec- 

 tions, were restored to the Mississippi and tributaries. 



Plans have been completed for conducting these operations on a 

 larger scale than heretofore during the fi^scal year 1920, and the indi- 

 cations are that the results in 1919 will be more than doubled. The 

 extent of the work that may be accomjilished depends mostly on the 

 funds that are available. There are productive fields yet imtouched, 

 especially in the central section of the Mississippi valley, and the 



