EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. *11 



j^s will be seeu in a subsequent portion of this report, applications for 

 the assistance of the United States Fish Commission have not been con- 

 lined to the United States, a number of calls having been received from 

 Australia, New Zealand, the Sandwich Islands, Gern)any and elsewhere. 

 These have been met, so far as it could be done without crippling the 

 home distribution; in most cases the actual expenses have been re- 

 funded, thus affording the means of extending operations in proportion. 



A special object in encouraging or superintending the transmission of 

 eggs or young fish to foreign countries has been the desire to secure the 

 information necessary to bring back in return new varieties of useful 

 food fishes for introduction into American waters. 



Distribution of eggs and of young fish. — The operations of the United 

 States Fish Commission have thus far been confined almost entirely to the 

 auadromous species, or those which, although born in the upper waters 

 of rivers, i-eceive there but a small portion of their growth, and after a 

 few months' sojourn descend to the ocean, and there remaining until 

 reaching full maturity; this in most cases requiring a period of about 

 four years. After this they return to their starting point, solely for the 

 purpose of reproduction, and scarcely ever taking any food during this 

 period. 



The propagation and distribution of such species as trout, black bass, 

 perch, etc., have been left to the State commissions, as more especially 

 appropriate to them, these fish being local in their habits, living the 

 year round in or near the same spot, and depending for food upon what 

 they can catch around them. 



The principal work of the United States Commission has been con- 

 nected with the Atlantic salmon, Salmo solar; the Landlocked salmon, 

 a variety of the same species, localized in ponds or lakes; the Cali- 

 fornia salmon, Salmo qninnat, and the shad, Alosa sapidissima. Some- 

 thing has been done with the whitefish, Coregoniis albus, but less than 

 would be necessary if this were not a favorite subject of attention on 

 the part of certain States. The introduction of the European carp has 

 also been a matter of attention by the Commission. 



Relation to the Fish Cultiirists^ Association. — The American Fish Cul- 

 turists Association is an organization which has also performed a large 

 part of the work of progress referred to, its annual meetings, begun in 

 1S71, and continued since, invoking the presence of a large number 

 of experts in fish culture, as well as of many members of State fish com- 

 missions, and giving an opportunity for the interchange of ideas and 

 suggestions, and of forming personal acquaintances between those who 

 are endeavoring to promote the common object. It must not be for- 

 gotten that the first authoritative suggestion of the propriety and im- 

 portance of Federal action in regard to the stocking of the common 

 waters of the United States was made by this body, a committee hav- 

 ing been appointed at the meeting of 1871 to memorialize Congress on 

 the subject, as mentioned in the previous portion of the report. The 



