THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS DURING THE 

 FISCAL YEAR 1910, 



CHARACTER OF THE WORK. 



More than 95 per cent of the output of the fish-cultural stations 

 consists of important commercial species, notably the salmons, shad, 

 whitefish, pike perch, yellow perch, white perch, lake trout, cod, 

 pollock, flatfish, and lobsters. These are hatched in lots of many 

 millions annually and planted by the Bureau, the fresh-water spe- 

 cies principally in the large coastal streams and in the Great Lakes, 

 the marine species upon the inshore fishing grounds of the Atlantic. 



The cultivation of the fishes of the interior waters generally classed 

 as game fishes, although a comparatively small factor in the total 

 output, is a very important feature of the Bureau's work, supplying 

 as it does various kinds of young fish for public streams, lakes and 

 ponds, fishing preserves, private ponds, streams, etc., in all parts of 

 the United States. Among the fishes most extensively cultivated 

 for these purposes are the landlocked salmon, several species of 

 trout, the grayling, the basses, crappie, bream, and catfish; various 

 others also are handled. The trouts are artificially hatched from 

 eggs taken from both wild and domesticated stock; the basses, 

 catfish, and others are derived from mature fish held in ponds for 

 breeding purposes, or (except the small-mouth black bass) they are 

 rescued from the overflows of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. 

 Collections from the latter sources include also pike and pickerel, 

 which are not distributed to applicants but are returned immediately 

 to the main streams, 



METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION. 



The first consideration in the Bureau's distribution of fishes is to 

 make ample return to the waters from which eggs or fish have been 

 collected. The remainder of the product is consigned to suitable 

 public or private waters upon application indorsed by a United 

 States Senator or Representative, the Bureau furnishing to persons 

 interested an application blank for this purpose. The blank calls 

 for a description of the waters to be stocked, and b}> r this information 

 is determined the species of fish that is suitable and the number that 

 may be allotted to the water area in question. Certain predaceous 

 species, such as the basses, perches, and pickerel, are not furnished 

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