REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LIII 



sturgeon captured for 25 miles south of Alburg, nearly down to Bur- 

 lington, were overhauled, but without results. All efforts to collect 

 eggs were abandoned late in June, as the sturgeon seemed to have left 

 the shoal water and to have gone into the deeper portions of the lake. 

 From the data collected this spring it is impossible to determine defl 

 nitely whether or not sturgeon ascend the river to deposit their eggs. 

 They appear in the Missisquoi Kiver immediately after the spawning 

 of the pike perch and suckers, going up as high as the Swanton Dam, 

 when they suddenly disappear, the stay at Swanton never being over 

 days and sometimes not over 3 days. 



The development of regular sturgeon fishing in Lake Champlain is 

 recent, and is probably due to the sudden rise in the commercial value 

 of the fish. The flesh brings 12i cents per pound net to the fishermen 

 in New York, and the eggs from 65 to 75 cents per i)ound. A sturgeon 

 dressing 100 pounds and yielding 24 jiounds of eggs readily brings |30. 

 They are usually captured with gill nets of 11-inch mesh, which vary in 

 length from 20 rods to a mile or more. By means of a JiOO-rod net 30 

 were captured in one week. 



Though all efforts this year resulted in failure, it is believed that some 

 eggs may be collected next year by setting nets in the Missisquoi and 

 Lamoille rivers, as soon as the j^ike perch have spawned, capturing all 

 the sturgeon that ascend and holding them in confinement in a suitable 

 pound until they ripen. 



The following table shows the number of eggs received at Cape Vin- 

 cent during the season and the fry hatched and distributed: 



Gloucester Station, Massachusetts (C. G. Corliss, Superintendent). 



During the summer, in addition to various minor repairs to buildings 

 and water-circulating plant, a 1-story storage shed, 38 by 20 feet, and 

 a small oil and paint house, 7 by 7, were erected. The old supply tank, 

 which had been condemned, was replaced by a new cyijress tank of 

 15,000 gallons capacity, and the ])latform was raised 5 feet to secure 

 greater pressure for hatching lobster eggs. 



Shortly after the completion of this work preparations were made for 

 the collection of cod eggs at Kittery Point, Maine, under the direction 

 of Capt. E. E. Hahn, of the schooner Grampus. A small force was also 

 stationed at Plymouth, Mass., under the immediate direction of Mr. F. 

 S. Conley. The first eggs from Kittery were received A^-J^ovember 21, and 

 the last on March 28, the total collections from that source amounting 

 to 104,000,000. The shipments from Plymouth aggregated 61,618,000, 

 the last consignment being received April 4. From Kittery 1,559,000 

 pollock eggs were also received, which i^roduced 834,000 fry. 



