TWENTY-EIGHTH BIENNIAL REPORT. 27 



Outside of fhe Klamath River, Lake Tahoe, Bear Lake in San Ber- 

 nardino County, and Plumas County stations, eggs can be procured 

 from properly equipped ponds for less money than they can be from 

 wild fish when the uncertainty of collecting eggs from wild fish is con- 

 sidered. The droughts, floods, deep snow and extremely cold weather 

 conditions always make the egg-collecting work uncertain. We do not 

 know from one season to another what to expect. During seasons of 

 extremely light rain and snowfall, conditions prevail that are unfavor- 

 able for the collection of trout eggs. Other years floods and extremely 

 high and cold water change the movements of the fish and the take of 

 eggs is often far less than we expect. Breaking up of runs of trout in 

 our streams by high dams built by hydro-electric companies and irriga- 

 tion projects are all having their effect and, to meet these new condi- 

 tions, the legislature should provide ample funds for the construction 

 of rearing ponds where a sufficient number of breeding fish can be 

 raised to supply- the demand for at least two-thirds of the waters to be 

 stocked. 



Salmon, rainbow trout, and steelhead trout can be saved to the people 

 for many years to come by the proper development of the Klamath 

 River and the saving of this stream as a fish refuge. If this stream is 

 lost to the public as an egg-collecting stream by the construction of high 

 dams in the lower reaches of the river, it will mean a great loss to the 

 general public. The expense of maintaining pond systems is costly 

 and locations are hard to find where perfect conditions can he found 

 for the rearing of a sufficient number of brood fish, particularly of the 

 rainbow and steelhead speoies. The development of hydro-electric 

 energy by the erection of high dams in the tributary streams of the 

 Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers has materially reduced the number 

 of salmon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Monterej^ 

 Bay regions. Practically all the salmon now to be found in the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin river basins and Monterey Bay region are the 

 product of hatcheries at Battle Creek, Mill Creek and Klamath River 

 stations. The number of salmon fry produced in the Klamath River 

 stations has assisted greatly in keeping up the supply in the Sacramento 

 River. 



The larger portion of the salmon in the Klamath River are the 

 Sacramento race of king salmon that were introduced into the 

 Klamath River by the Fish and Game Commission in its salmon cultural 

 operations during the years past. The native Klamath River salmon do 

 not appear in any great numbers in the river in the last few years. Our 

 fishcultural experts at the Klamathon station support the view that the 

 large majority of the fish taken from the Klamath River at the Klama- 

 thon egg-collecting station are of the Sacramento race. 



If the Klamath River is set aside as a fish refuge, by increasing the 

 number of fry planted in this stream, a larger number of rainbow and 

 steelhead eggs will be collected : and, as it is the only river of any con- 

 sequence left in this state in which there is a run of king salmon to 

 handle for artificial propagation, it is of great importance that this 

 stream be saved as a fish refuge so that the state at all times may have, 

 not only an adequate supply of salmon eggs to keep up the supply of 

 salmon in the Sacramento River and Monterey Bay regions, but also 

 furnish a large percentage of our rainbow and steelhead trout eggs 



