XIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



36,925,000 of which were planted along the coast of Maine at various 

 localities selected by the commissioner of sea and shore fisheries, 

 33,685,000 above Cape Cod along the coast of Massachusetts, and the 

 balance along the coast below the cape, as far south as Long Island 

 Sound, Connecticut and Ehode Island. Although the plants already 

 made h'ave apparently had no appreciable effect upon the fishery, cor- 

 respondents at various points report large numbers of young lobsters, 

 varying from 2 to 4 inches in length, captured in traps or carried up on 

 the beach in grass during heavy seas. Mr. W. D. Monroe writes that 

 while at his home in Marblehead, immediately after a severe November 

 storm, he observed hundreds of small lobsters on the beach in eelgrass; 

 and that, although he had lived there for many years, he had never 

 before seen such numbers of young lobsters in the vicinity, and thinks 

 they are the product of the hatchery at Gloucester. 



The season's shad operations were begun, as in former years, in 

 Albemarle Sound, with the steamer Fish Hawlc as a floating hatchery. 

 Though this vessel was available for duty earlier than usual, owing to 

 unfavorable weather it was the 5th of April before any rii3e fish were 

 secured. Egg-collecting was pushed vigorously until April 30, when the 

 vessel proceeded to the Delaware Eiver. During the month 21,000,000 

 eggs were hatched and the fry planted in North Carolina waters. Early 

 in April shad-hatching commenced at Bryan Point on the Maryland 

 shore of the Potomac Kiver and at Havre de Grace on the Susquehanna, 

 and on May 11 the Fisli Haivli arrived in the Delaware, opposite Glou- 

 cester, N. J., and took up the work there. The results from all of these 

 stations this season were satisfactory, enabling the Commission to plant 

 over 235,000,000 fry, an increase over the i^revious year of more than 

 7,000,000. The importance of artificial propagation is fully realized by 

 shad fishermen, and its effect on the fishery is the best illustration of 

 the value of fish culture. The catch of fish increases yearly, notwith- 

 standing fewer fish ascend to their natural spawning-grounds at the 

 headwaters of the various rivers, owing to the greater number of pound 

 and gill nets. 



At the inland stations there has been a steady increase in the output 

 of brook trout, landlocked salmon, and the large-mouth black bass, 

 which is particularly gratifying in view of the growing demand for 

 these species throughout the country. As an instance of the success 

 achieved in artificially extending the range of brook trout, it may be 

 mentioned that at the Leadville Station, in Colorado, over 3,056,000 

 brook-trout eggs were collected during the fall from streams and lakes 

 which had been stocked comparatively few years ago, this fish not being 

 a native of this section of the United States. 



The propagation of the grayling, which was undertaken the previous 

 season at Ked Eock Lake, Montana, was continued under better condi- 

 tions, and 5,300,000 eggs were collected. Consignments of these were 

 sent to Wyoming, Minnesota, Michigan, Ehode Island, and Vermont, in 

 waters where it is hoped this fine food and game fish may be established. 



