[17] 



SHAD PROPAGATION ON POTOMAC RIVER, 1886. 



817 



A. comparison of the records of the seine-hauling in 1885 and 188G, 

 for which seasons only we have reliable records, affords contrasts us 

 interesting as they are perplexing. These may he summarized as fol- 

 lows : 



A considerable proportion of the excess of males was made up c* 

 small two-year-old " buck shad," called by the ftsherinen "skiminers,'' 

 which, being too small to cc>unt, are sold by the. bunch. The preponder- 

 ance of these during the (season gives promise of an increased run. of 

 full-sized spawning fish in 1887. 



Transportation of eggs. — 'The transfer of impregnated eggs from Fort 

 Washington to Central Station war, made by the steamer W. W. Corco- 

 ran, plying daily between Washington and Mount Vernon, the trans- 

 portation being uniformly made on trays, by the "dry method," inau- 

 gurated by me in 1881. The total number of eggs forwarded from Fort 

 Washington Station waft 33,208,000. Of these 4,925,000 died in transit. 



CENTRAL STATION. 



The total number oi' eggs received in good condition, the number of 

 eggs and fry distributed, and the average percentage of loss in hatch- 

 ing are given in the following summary for the season of 1SSG : 



Eggs transferred to other stations 1,580,000 



Fish distributed 24,997,000 



Eggs lost in hatching, 7 per cent 1,700,000 



Total egf/s received alive from Fort Washington 28,283,000 



The recovds of the station contain a history of each lot of eggs re- 

 ceived from the Fish Commission seine, giving the temperature of im- 

 pregnation, the maximum, minimum, and mean of water temperatures 

 during the period of incubation, and the percentage of loss in hatch- 

 ing, data which it is important to preserve for reference, but which it 

 is hardly necessary to publish. 



Comparison of the catch o/18S5 anil 18S6. — The catch of shad in the 

 Potomac varies greatly from one season to auother. The aggregate 

 number* taken in 1S85 was 157,097; in 1S86 it was 275.422, the increase 

 of ^886 over the previous season being 117,725. 



* See reports of Gwynn Harris, inspector of marine products, in U. S. F. C. Bulle- 

 tin. Vol. V, p. 192, and Vol. VI, p. 202. 

 S. Mis. 90 52 



