Xlt REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



On the Great Lakes the collection of white-fish eggs from commercial 

 fishermen was hampered by the operation of State laws, which prohibit 

 the capture of white-fish during the spawning season in Lakes Michigan 

 and Hurou. A few million were taken in Lake Superior, but the con- 

 ditions under which fishing is conducted in this lake are such that it is 

 not possible to obtain many eggs, and the work was practically restricted 

 to the station at Put-in Bay, Lake Erie. The experiments mentioned 

 in the last report having demonstrated the practicability of holding 

 adult white-fish in pens for spawning purposes, 12,785 fish were thus 

 confined, and from them 102,051,000 eggs were obtained, which, with 

 83,403,000 secured from fishermen, made a total of 185,454,000, as against 

 112,842,000 for the previous year. From the success in obtaining eggs 

 from penned fish this year it would seem that in the future the necessary 

 supply can be readily obtained by impounding a sufficient number of 

 white-fish early in each season. Most of these eggs were hatched as 

 usual at Put-in Bay and liberated in Lake Erie, though the hatchery at 

 Alpena, Mich., was filled and some millions were sent to the hatcheries 

 at Duluth,Minn., and Cape Vincent, N. Y. 



The lake-trout work in Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron was 

 continued on the same lines as heretofore, but owing to the fact that 

 the spawning fish did not appear on the spawning-grounds in Lakes 

 Michigan and Huron until near the Ist of November, just before the close 

 season commenced, the egg collections were much less than formerly. 

 In Lake Superior efforts were more successful, 6,300,000 being obtained 

 from the American and Canadian shore fisheries. As a result of the 

 season's work over 9,500,000 fry were liberated. 



The resumption of the propagation of pike perch the previous season 

 met with such hearty commendation from all parts of the Great Lakes 

 region that it was decided not only to increase the work on Lake Erie, 

 but to undertake the collection of eggs in Michigan waters for filling 

 the Alpena hatchery, and in Vermont and New York waters for the 

 station at Cape Vincent. The experience gained In Saginaw Bay and 

 on the Missisquoi River in Vermont has shown that several hundred 

 million pike-perch eggs may be collected in these localities under more 

 favorable conditions. In Lake Erie the number of eggs collected 

 aggregated over 493,000,000. Of these, 87,862,000 were taken from fish 

 which had been penned at Monroe Piers, Mich., and Put-in Bay. The 

 application of this method did not prove as satisfactory with the pike 

 perch as with the white-fish, as the conditions differed in many respects. 

 The pike perch did not stand transportation as well, and unless stripped 

 within 72 hours after being penned the eggs were usually valueless. 

 The higher temperature of water in the spring, when the pike perch are 

 penned, may be the reason for the smaller measure of success. 



Work at the marine stations on the coast of Massachusetts was begun 

 in the fiill, the schooner Grampus being utilized during the months of 

 October and November in collecting brood cod for the Woods Hole 

 station. Field stations were established at Plymouth, Mass., and 



