REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 9 



A marked falling off is shown in the output of blueback salmon 

 at the Afognak (Alaska) station, due to the unaccountably small run 

 of fish in streams tributary to Litnik Lake. Fish-cultural opera- 

 tions in connection with this station were undertaken at Malena 

 Lake, heretofore regarded as a field of sufficient productiveness to 

 warrant the establishment there of an auxiliary station, but the total 

 collections of eggs at both places amounted to only half the take of 

 the preceding year at the main station alone. 



At the Yes Bay (Alaska) station, on the other hand, more favor- 

 able weather conditions resulted in a large run of blueback salmon. 

 The hatchery was filled to its capacity with eggs, and a sufficient 

 number of fish to have produced fully 10,000,000 more were allowed 

 to escape because of lack of facilities for handling them. 



There was a slight decrease in the output of some of the species 

 handled at the Pacific coast stations, but the work in general was 

 satisfactory. An average run of chinook salmon occurred in the 

 Sacramento River, but low-water stages in tributary streams pre- 

 vented many of the fish from reaching their customary spawning 

 grounds and large numbers of eggs were deposited in the main river. 

 Later in the season freshets carried away the retaining racks, per- 

 mitting the escape of many impounded fish and the loss of millions 

 of eggs. Despite these unfavorable occurrences the take of eggs at 

 Baird and its auxiliaries was nearly 5,000,000 in excess of that of 

 the previous year, most of the gain being at Battle Creek. 



Two new field stations were established in California and operated 

 in connection with the Baird station during the year — one at Klama- 

 thon for chinook and silver salmon, and the other at Hornbrook for 

 rainbow trout. At the Klamathon station, in the construction of 

 which the State fish commission bore half the expense, the racks 

 were not completed in time to intercept the run of chinook salmon. 

 Later in the season, before the completion of the silver salmon work, 

 they were carried away, but not before satisfactory collections of 

 eggs had been made. At Hornbrook the take of rainbow trout eggs 

 far exceeded the expectations, being in excess of 2,000,000. 



The conditions affecting the run and shortening the spawning sea- 

 son of the salmon in California prevailed also in the Columbia River 

 and its tributaries, but as a whole the work of the Oregon stations 

 was successful, the falling off in chinook salmon being offset by sub- 

 stantial gains in the output of silver salmon and steelhead trout. At 

 the Big White Salmon station the experiment of penning chinook 

 salmon and holding them for the ripening of their eggs was con- 

 ducted in a small way with results that warrant a more extensive 

 trial in future, this apparently being the easiest and most economical 

 method of collecting eggs in this region. The fish are procured from 

 trap fishermen in the vicinity at a cost of 12^ cents each and towed 



