REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



13 



outcome of this experiment, the Bureau inside a plant of 10,000 finger- 

 ling chinook salmon in Lake Champlain in the spring of 1010. 



There unquestionably has been an increase in Atlantic salmon in the 

 Penobscot River, as evidenced by the results of the Bureau's opera- 

 tions in 1910 compared with 1908 and 1909. Though receiving the 

 catch of a smaller number of weirs the past season, the collection of 

 spawning fish was twice as great as in 1909 and 60 per cent greater 

 than in 1908. 



It is believed that owing to the planting of the species by the 

 Bureau pike perch have become sufficiently abundant in the St. Law- 

 rence River to warrant the collection of eggs at the Cape Vincent 

 station, and plans will be made accordingly. The fishermen on Lake 

 Ontario report that lake trout and whitefish, which have been planted 

 extensively by the Bureau, are increasing rapidly, and that numbers 

 of fishermen who were driven to other pursuits by the former deple- 

 tion of the fishery are resuming operations. In 1908 the catch of 

 these two species was 5,567 pounds, while in 1909 it increased to. 

 12,532 pounds. A corresponding increase is shown in the take of 

 pike perch in this lake. 



The following statistics show the increasing catch of the striped- 

 bass fishery in California, the species having first been introduced 

 from the Atlantic coast into the waters of that State in 1879: 



For a series of years it has been the custom at the Baird, Cal., 

 station to select for spawning purposes large fish only, a practice 

 which appears to be developing a larger breed of fish. Chinook 

 salmon of the run of 1909 averaged 20 pounds in weight, an increase 

 of about 3 pounds over the previous run. The possibilities of selective 

 breeding are indicated by this experience. 



FISH-CULTURAL RELATIONS WITH STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Several States still continue in force certain laws and regulations 

 in respect to the fisheries which tend to curtail and hamper the activi- 

 ties of the Bureau. In <?ome cases the States show a willingness to 

 mitigate as far as possible the effects of laws which inadvertently 

 interfere with the Bureau's work, but in one or two instances the 

 legislative and executive attitude appears to be unreasonable if not 

 hostile. 



With the States in general the relations of the Bureau have always 

 been harmonious, and a system of cooperation has developed which 

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