TWENTY-EIGHTH BIENNIAL REPORT. 13 



FISH CULTURE. 



During the past two seasons the output of the state's hatcheries has 



'en greater than that of any similar period since the beginning of 

 ^'"shcultural operations. The total trout fry planted reached 56,527,105, 

 and of salmon fry, 35,495,550. All available hatcheries and egg- 

 collecting stations were operated during the biennium. Work was 

 handicapped at some of them because they are still operated under 

 tents, pending the construction of permanent hatcheries. 



With an ever growing demand for a larger output of fry, the fish- 

 cultural department looks with alarm at the possible destruction of the 

 best source of egg supply left for the hatcheries in the state — the 

 Klamath River. The building of a 250-foot dam can only mean the 

 destruction of the run of king salmon and sea-run trout which has for 

 several years furnished our state hatcheries with practically all of the 

 salmon eggs and a large majority of the trout eggs. Proper stocking 

 of the streams of the state is absolutely dependent ui)on the saving of 

 the Klamath River as a fish reserve and the building of more hatcheries. 



Worthwhile additions to the stock of fish in the state have been made. 

 XL quarter of a million cutthroat trout eggs from the Rocky Mountains 

 were received, hatched, and planted in the streams of the northwest 

 coast region. Eighty thousantl eggs of the ]\Iackinaw trout from the 

 Great Lakes were obtained and resultant fry successfully planted in 

 Clear and Eagle lakes. A fine, pure strain of Eastern brook trout 

 ■'as secured for the state througli the exchange of a million Loch Leven 

 ggs for a million eggs of this species with the New Jersey Fish and 

 iame Commission. 



Screen and ladder surveyors report difficulty in enforcing installation 

 of fishways and of screens and, in many instances, legal proceedings 

 have been necessary. Too often a dry year furnishes an excuse for not 

 providing the fishway with sufficient water to make it usable. The 

 idea seems to be prevalent that water for irrigation and power is more 

 valuable than that used for saving fish life. 



Recommendations include : 



1. Legislation requiring a sufficient flow of water in a stream to 

 maintain fish life. 



2. Better means to force installation of screens and fishways. 



3. Increased financial support for the building of new hatcheries 

 and the enlarging of the pond system. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 



The fisheries of the state have made a distinct recovery from the 

 post-war slump. In both weight and value, the catches the past two 

 vears exceed those of 1920. The total pack at the canneries amounted 

 to 1,981,027 cases in 1923 as against 831,232 cases in 1921. A notable 

 increase in such fish products as smoked salmon, dried squid and 

 salachini is indicated. Dried scpiid reached the quota of 99,000 pounds. 

 Fish meal and fish oil, by-products of the canneries, also showed a 

 notable increase — nearly 3000 tons in the case of fish meal between 1921 

 and 1923, and over 6,000,000 gallons in the case of fish oil. The total 

 value of the catch shows an increase of more than eight and a half 

 millions of dollars in the same period of time. In spite of the fact 

 that the value of the plants decreased nearly a million and a half. 



