REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 15 



tant to have the rights of the Bureau tested before a competent tri- 

 bunal, as the rescue of millions of fish annually in the interior waters 

 is involved. Jo Daviess County extends from East Dubuque, 111., to 

 a point about 20 miles below the Bellevue station, a distance of about 

 35 miles, and comprises a lone- stretch of low islands, swamps, etc., 

 on which are hundreds of shallow lakes and pools made by the over- 

 flow water from the Mississippi River. This is the very best field for 

 the Bureau's work on the upper Mississippi, and on account of this 

 fact the special collecting' station was established at Bellevue some 

 years ago. There are not many overflow lakes on the Iowa side of 

 the river within easy reach of the station, and if the Bureau is pre- 

 vented from taking fish from the Illinois side in Jo Daviess County 

 the work will be seriously crippled in future and will probably have 

 to be abandoned. 



ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH. 



Although the results of introducing certain fishes of the eastern 

 seaboard into western waters have been often mentioned in the 

 Bureau's reports, reference should again be made to the increasing 

 abundance of the shad and the striped bass on the Pacific coast. The 

 yearly catch of these fish for market at this time is upward of 4,000,000 

 pounds, for which the fishermen receive nearly $200,000. The reported 

 aggregate sales of the two species to the end of the calendar year l!Mi4 

 were 26,400,000 pounds with a value of $955,000 at the prices actually 

 paid to the fishermen. 



By way of reciprocity, in past }^ears experiments have been made 

 upon a rather extensive scale to acclimatize the chinook salmon on the 

 Atlantic coast, large numbers of eggs having been transported across 

 the continent, hatched, and distributed in waters deemed suitable for 

 the purpose. No results appear to have followed these efforts, and it 

 is probable that the northeastern rivers are no longer capable of 

 sustaining such a large, vigorous species. It has therefore been 

 determined to attempt the introduction of other west-coast salmons 

 particularly the silver salmon and the humpback salmon. 



The excellent steelhead trout of the Pacific coast, introduced into 

 Lake Superior about ten years ago, appears to have become firmly 

 established in the lake and its tributaries, and has now begun to figure 

 in the commercial fisheries. Some eggs have been taken from wild 

 fish and hatched at the Duluth, Minn., station. 



Another noteworthy case of acclimatization in Lake Superior is that 

 of the bluefin or blackfin whitefish, introduced from Lake Michigan. 

 This fish has now become exceedingly abundant, and many millions of 

 pounds have been caught and sold by the fishermen. It- eggs are now 

 regularly collected and incubated at the Duluth hatchery. 



