CLASS PISCES 475 



were the cod, haddock, hake, pollock, halibut, and mackerel. 

 The salmon fisheries of Alaska are even more valuable. The 

 total quantity taken in 1908 was 198,952,814 pounds, valued 

 at $10,683,051. Fifty canneries and forty salting establish- 

 ments were operated, and 12,183 persons were employed to catch, 

 prepare, and transport the canned, pickled, fresh, and frozen 

 fish. 



Of the fresh-water fishes the whitefish, lake-trout, rainbow- 

 trout, brook trout, catfishes, sturgeon, suckers, black bass, pike, 

 and perch are some of the more important species. 



In many places the fishes have been captured in such great 

 numbers that laws regulating the fishing industry .have- been 

 passed. The federal and state governments have also for many 

 years operated fish hatcheries where the eggs of important 

 fishes are kept during their development. In nature very few 

 eggs are allowed to develop because of the attacks of fungi, and 

 of animals such as other fishes, crayfishes, and wild fowls. A 

 large percentage of the eggs collected and cared for in fish 

 hatcheries develop. They are distributed either as well-de- 

 veloped eggs or as young fish, and are planted in the waters from 

 which the adult fishes were taken, and also in waters where the 

 fishes are not native. 



In 1909 the Bureau of Fisheries operated 35 hatcheries and 84 

 subhatcheries, auxiliaries, and egg- collecting stations ; these were 

 located in 32 states and territories. " The regular hatcheries 

 may be classified as follows with reference to the fishes propa- 

 gated: Marine species, 3; river fishes of the eastern seaboard, 5; 

 fishes of the Pacific coast, 5 ; fishes of the Great Lakes, 7 ; fishes 

 of the interior regions, 15." (Bowers.) The total output of 

 fish and eggs in 1909 was 3,107,131,911. "During the year 

 applications were received for fish for planting in 10,111 dif- 

 ferent bodies of water." A summary of distributions is given in 

 Table XV. 



