FISHES OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 5 



INTRODUCED FISHES. 



In immediate response to tfte outcome of investigations to deter- 

 mine the suitability of fishless park waters for game fishes, the Bureau 

 of Fisheries in 1889 inaugurated the planting of selected species in 

 predetermined waters, and this work has been continued to the pres- 

 ent time. The one species of native trout was soon supplemented 

 by the very successful introduction of five other trouts, and in a short 

 time the park became an angler's paradise, affording better and more 

 varied trout fishing than could be found anywhere else in the country, 

 if not in the world. 



The nonindigenous trouts that have been introduced into park 

 waters are the rainbow, Loch Leven, brown, lake, and eastern brook 

 trouts, all of which have become firmly established. The distribu- 

 tion of the native redthroat trout has been greatly extended into 

 previously barren waters. The introduction of two other game 

 fishes has been attempted, but apparently without positive results. 

 One of these is the landlocked salmon (Salmo sebago), of which 7,000 

 fry were planted in Yellowstone Lake and 2,000 in Duck Lake in 

 1908, but not a vestige of these plants has ever been seen. The other 

 species is the largemouth black bass (Micropterus salmoides], of 

 which 500 fingerlings were planted in " lakes in Yellowstone National 

 Park," according to the indefinite official record. These lakes are 

 thought to have been Feather Lake and Goose Lake, in the Lower 

 Geyser Basin. An earlier plant of 250 black bass was made in the 

 Gibbon River, in 1893, but it is not known which of the two species 

 of black bass composed this plant. There is no evidence of the 

 survival of black bass anywhere in the park, and this may be regarded 

 as a fortunate circumstance. In our opinion, there should be no 

 further attempts to establish black bass in the park, as they do not 

 harmonize with the trouts, and their predatory habits make them 

 unsafe species to introduce among the soft-firmed fishes which, with 

 two minor exceptions, constitute the local fauna. The only other 

 species of fish that has been introduced into park waters is the yellow 

 perch, whose planting was unofficial and is apparently to be ascribed 

 to the unauthorized act of a private individual. This fish now 

 abounds in certain lakes in the Lower Geyser Basin. 



FISH CULTURE IN THE PARK. 



The hundreds of thousands of visitors who have already been in 

 the park and the millions of others who are destined to visit it owe 

 to fish culture and fish acclimatization a debt whose value can hardly 

 be estimated. Within a few years after experienced fish-culturists 

 began to give attention to needs of the park the hitherto fishless 

 waters began to produce desirable game fish in abundance, and this 

 has continued up to the present time. The early work, as well as the 

 efforts of the fish-culturists of late, has been directed mostly to 

 maintaining the supply of fishes already established. 



For many years the Bureau of Fisheries has conducted fish- 

 hatching operations in the park. The first hatchery was located at 

 the Thumb of Yellowstone Lake; the principal hatchery now is on 

 the lake shore near the Lake Hotel. In 1921 a permanent hatchery 

 was erected on Soda Butte Creek, which had been the site of a field 



