REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XLI 



muuicated to the Gloucester flsliermen information relative to tLe locali- 

 ties, and as a result the vessels Alice M. Williams, Captain Pendleton; 

 Concord, Captain Dago, and David A. Story, Captain Eyan, were fitted 

 up. Their success was in every way satisfactory, and will i)rol)ably 

 lead to the continuance of the industry. A full account of the trips, 

 obtained by Captain Collins from the vessels' logs and by conference 

 with the masters, will be found in the appendix. 



15. — INVESTIGATIONS OF THE SHAD FISHERIES OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA, 

 AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 



For the purpose of ascertaining the actual abundance of spawning 

 shad in the Florida waters, with a view of establishing hatching stations, 

 should the prospect be favorable, Mr. William Hamlen, one of the 

 most experienced fish culturists of the Commission, i)roceeded to Florida, 

 reaching Jacksonville on March 1, where he found very few fish, and re- 

 ceived the impression that they had diminished so greatly in the JSaint 

 John's Eiver as to indicate an impending exhaustion of the stock. He 

 then went to the Saint Mary's River, where he found a larger supi)ly of 

 fish; and on March 4 obtained 13 ripe females from which 240,000 

 eggs were secured, but very little show for obtaining results of sufficieut 

 magnitude to warrant further effort. The same experience was en- 

 countered in the Satilla River, the diminution being equally marked as 

 in the Saint Mary's. 



Thinking it possible that the apparatus used by the fishermen in these 

 rivers was not suitable for taking spawning fish, the steamer Fish Hawk, 

 under command of Lieut. W. M. Wood, U. S. Navy, was ordered to 

 Florida, and reached King's Ferry, on the Saint Mary's, on March 19. 

 Nothing of any moment was accomplished, and the vessel returned to 

 Washington. It was concluded that the best place for taking shad, for 

 the purpose of artificial propagation, was the Saint Mary's River, be- 

 tween King's Ferry and the Brick Yard; and thafc if the logs in the 

 river could be removed it was likely that enough shad could be taken 

 for the i)urpose of artificial propagation. 



Returning to Washington in the Fish Hawk, Lieutenant Wood 

 stopped at Georgetown, S. C, for the purpose of investigating the fish- 

 eries in that locality. He found that the cai)ture of fish is i^rosccuted 

 entirely by gill-nets, and that very few ripe or spawning fish are taken, 

 which, of course, would be quite natural in view of the saltness of the 

 water. 



16. —INVESTIGATION OF THE FISHERIES FOR WHITEFISH IN THE 



GREAT LAKES. 



Desirous of ascertaining whether the artificial propagation of white- 

 fish had made a perceptible increase, or, at least, prevented a diminu- 

 tion of the catch of the species within the last few years, Mr. Frank 



