﻿EEPOET 
  OF 
  THE 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISHERIES. 
  53 
  

  

  Owino; 
  to 
  peculiar 
  climatic 
  conditions, 
  the 
  normal 
  spawning 
  season 
  

   of 
  the 
  striped 
  bass 
  on 
  the 
  Roanoke 
  River, 
  near 
  Weldon, 
  N. 
  C, 
  was 
  

   prolonged 
  for 
  nearly 
  a 
  month. 
  When 
  egg 
  collections 
  began 
  on 
  April 
  

   29 
  the 
  outlook 
  was 
  discouraging, 
  the 
  catch 
  of 
  fish 
  was 
  small, 
  the 
  

   river 
  was 
  at 
  a 
  low 
  stage 
  and 
  very 
  clear, 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  was 
  warming 
  so 
  

   rapidly 
  that 
  numbers 
  of 
  female 
  bass 
  were 
  undidy 
  ripening 
  and 
  cast- 
  

   ing 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  many 
  miles 
  below 
  the 
  station. 
  A 
  few 
  days 
  

   later, 
  following 
  a 
  heavy 
  rain, 
  all 
  these 
  conditions 
  were 
  reversed. 
  The 
  

   water 
  level 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  was 
  increased 
  over 
  5 
  feet, 
  its 
  temperature 
  

   dropped 
  to 
  normal, 
  and 
  fish 
  with 
  eggs 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  comparatively 
  

   large 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  egg-collecting 
  camps. 
  

   The 
  majority 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  green, 
  however, 
  and 
  male 
  fish, 
  as 
  hereto- 
  

   fore, 
  were 
  scarce. 
  At 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  spawning 
  season 
  (May 
  12 
  and 
  

   13) 
  over 
  5,000,000 
  eggs 
  were 
  taken, 
  and 
  from 
  that 
  time 
  on 
  smaller 
  

   lots 
  were 
  secured 
  up 
  to 
  May 
  22, 
  by 
  which 
  date 
  the 
  river 
  was 
  so 
  low 
  

   and 
  the 
  water 
  so 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  fish 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  see 
  and 
  avoid 
  the 
  

   nets. 
  The 
  total 
  egg 
  receipts 
  amounted 
  to 
  17,290,000 
  and 
  the 
  output 
  

   of 
  fry 
  to 
  11,689,000. 
  

  

  Some 
  penning 
  experiments 
  with 
  the 
  crude 
  facilities 
  at 
  hand 
  were 
  

   conducted 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  spawning 
  season 
  in 
  an 
  effort 
  to 
  solve 
  

   the 
  greatest 
  problem 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  artificial 
  propagation 
  of 
  the 
  

   striped 
  bass 
  — 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  ripe 
  male 
  and 
  female 
  fish 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time. 
  

   Though 
  no 
  positive 
  information 
  on 
  the 
  subject 
  was 
  gained, 
  the 
  results 
  

   of 
  these 
  experiments 
  gave 
  ground 
  for 
  the 
  belief 
  that 
  under 
  certain 
  

   conditions 
  the 
  ripening 
  of 
  green 
  fish 
  of 
  both 
  sexes 
  in 
  pens 
  may 
  be 
  

   successfidly 
  accompHshed. 
  

  

  CULTIVATION 
  OF 
  MARINE 
  SPECIES. 
  

  

  The 
  hatching 
  of 
  marine 
  fishes 
  and 
  the 
  lobster 
  is 
  done 
  at 
  three 
  sta- 
  

   tions 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  and 
  Maine, 
  but 
  the 
  field 
  work 
  for 
  the 
  collec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  eggs 
  extends 
  from 
  the 
  Bay 
  of 
  Fundy 
  to 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound. 
  

  

  The 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  year's 
  operations 
  at 
  the 
  Boothbay 
  Harbor 
  sta- 
  

   tion, 
  though 
  somewhat 
  smaller 
  than 
  had 
  been 
  anticipated 
  in 
  view 
  of 
  

   the 
  large 
  stock 
  of 
  brood 
  lobsters 
  impounded 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  year, 
  were 
  the 
  

   largest 
  ever 
  attained 
  on 
  the 
  Maine 
  coast, 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  fry 
  hatched 
  

   and 
  distributed 
  aggregating 
  755,557,400. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  summer 
  and 
  fall 
  of 
  1913 
  brood 
  lobsters 
  were 
  so 
  plentiful 
  

   that 
  20,349 
  were 
  collected 
  without 
  difficulty 
  before 
  October, 
  this 
  

   being 
  more 
  than 
  3,000 
  in 
  excess 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  obtained 
  in 
  previous 
  

   years, 
  even 
  when 
  collections 
  were 
  continued 
  through 
  practically 
  the 
  

   whole 
  year. 
  It 
  was 
  deemed 
  inadvisable 
  to 
  place 
  more 
  than 
  this 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  lobsters 
  in 
  the 
  pound, 
  and 
  as 
  facihties 
  for 
  holding 
  additional 
  

   stock 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  provided, 
  the 
  collections 
  were 
  discontinued 
  on 
  

   September 
  30. 
  On 
  the 
  removal 
  of 
  the 
  lobsters 
  from 
  the 
  pound 
  in 
  

   April, 
  it 
  was 
  apparent, 
  both 
  from 
  the 
  heavy 
  shrinkage 
  in 
  numbers 
  and 
  

   from 
  the 
  small 
  crop 
  of 
  eggs 
  carried 
  by 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  females, 
  that 
  

   too 
  many 
  lobsters 
  had 
  been 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  inclosure. 
  Only 
  14,537 
  

   survived, 
  the 
  percentage 
  being 
  smaller 
  than 
  in 
  any 
  year 
  since 
  the 
  

   enlargement 
  of 
  the 
  pound 
  in 
  1908. 
  The 
  yield 
  of 
  eggs 
  amounted 
  to 
  

   150,014,000, 
  or 
  10,319 
  per 
  lobster, 
  as 
  opposed 
  to 
  an 
  average 
  of 
  15,500 
  

   in 
  the 
  fiscal 
  year 
  1913. 
  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  27,642,000 
  eggs 
  

   were 
  secured 
  from 
  freshly 
  caught 
  lobsters, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  total 
  stock 
  

   173,500,000 
  vigorous 
  fry 
  were 
  hatched 
  and 
  distributed. 
  

  

  