CXXIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



known that the salinity of the open lake is so great as to preclude the 

 possibility of the acclimatization of useful marine animals, it had been 

 suggested that in certain l>ays or arms of the lake, in which the rivers 

 discharge, and where the density is lowered to a point somewhat less 

 than that of ocean water, it might be possible for oysters and clams, 

 crabs, terrapins, and even fish to survive and multiply. 



In September, 1898, Dr. U. F. Moore was ordered to Utah, and spent 

 about a month in studying the physical conditions of this lake near 

 the mouths of Bear, Weber, and Jordan rivers, and in ascertaining the 

 availability for aquiculture of several brackish springs in the vicinity 

 of the lake. A report* on this investigation will be found among the 

 appendices in the present volume. 



Great Salt Lake has a length of 80 miles and a maximum width of 

 35 miles, the area in 1898 being about 1,750 square miles. The drainage 

 'area of the Great Salt Lake basin is about 51,000 square miles. Nearly 

 all the fresh water entering the lake is discharged by the three rivers 

 named. The density of the open lake in November, 1897, was 1.168, or 

 more than seven times the maximum density in which oysters will grow. 



It was appreciated by the Commission at the outset that the only pos- 

 sible chance foi- acclimatization experiments was in those parts of the 

 lake where the rivers debouched. It was found, however, that the zone 

 of mixed water was not only very narrow, but also had no fixed posi- 

 tion, moving irregularly back and forth under the influence of several 

 agencies beyond control. To attempt, therefore, to introduce oysters, 

 crabs, or marine fishes in the lake would be manifestly useless. The 

 objections to the planting of such animals are based on physical rather 

 than on biological conditions, as there is an abundant food supply, 

 brine shrimp {Artemia gracilis), insect larvte, and minute plants being 

 very numerous. While it is not improbable that oysters could be 

 raised in suitably constructed ponds fed by some of the brackish 

 springs, tne venture would be costly and might not prove financially 

 successful, even if feasible as an experiment. 



While the results of the investigation were thus entirely negative as 

 regards the piacticability of introducing useful animals into the lake, 

 the work was^^iseful m setting the question at rest and in providing 

 definite data with which to answer those persons who have cherished 

 the belief that the lake might be thus utilized. 



Attention may be drawn to the probability of increasing the fish 

 supply of this region by introducing cat-fish and other hardy species in 

 the freshwater sloughs near the mouths of the rivers. Efforts to secure 

 a run of shad or other anadromous fishes in the rivers entering the lake 

 will, however, undoubtedly fail. Considerable numbers of young shad 

 have been deposited by the Commission in these streams, but there are 

 no evidences of their survival. 



*An inquiry into the feasibility of introducing nsoful marine animnls into the 

 wjilfrs of Great Salt Lake. By H. F. Moore. Report U. S. Fish Commission 1899, 

 pp. 2i; 1-250. 



