FORTY-THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT 



33 



em California ponds. A few experimental plants of 

 yellow perch and Sacramento perch were made with 

 this in mind. 



FISH INTRODUCTIONS 



The Department of Fish and Game has continued 

 its work of introducing species whose establishment 

 in fresh waters may be beneficial. 



In 1953 the fathead minnow was imported from 

 New Mexico and it spawned successfully in hatchery 

 ponds during the same year. Experimental planting 

 has been carried out in several lakes in the hope that 

 it will be a useful forage fish.. 



In the spring of 1954 another forage minnow, the 

 plains red shiner, was brought to northern California 

 and is now being propagated at Cehtral Valleys 

 Hatchery. It spawned successfully there in June, 1954. 



Outstanding introductions of the biennium con- 

 sisted of the importation of the threadfin shad and the 

 redeye black bass, also known as the Coosa bass, into 

 California. The threadfin is being introduced in the 

 hope that it will provide hitherto lacking forage for 

 black bass and other game fish in large reservoirs, 

 while the redeye is expected to provide fishing in 

 lowland foothill streams, too warm for trout and too 

 small for other kinds of black bass. 



Following extensive negotiations and experiments 

 with transportation equipment, the shad were seined 

 from the Tennessee River in Tennessee and flown to 

 California. Despite adverse weather conditions, 357 of 

 the delicate shad survived and were introduced into 

 brood ponds in San Diego County in November, 1953. 

 In Mav of 1954 they spawned prolifically. The first 

 experimental plant from this spawning was made in 

 San V^icente Reservoir, San Diego County, in June, 

 1954. 



Redeye Bass Imported 



Forty adult redeye bass were brought out from 

 their native waters in Tennessee by the department's 

 airplane in 1953 and all but one survived the trip. 

 These fish were settled in a pond at Central Valleys 

 Hatchery, where some of them spawned in the spring 

 of 1954.' 



Additional plants and checkups were made of sev- 

 eral other non-native species which have been resident 

 in the State for some time. Since 1950 there has been 

 a concerted effort to establish the golden shiner as a 

 forage fish in reservoirs throughout central and north- 

 ern California. It has been found to have spawned 

 successfully in some of them, and evaluation of its 

 effect now is being carried out. 



Smallmouth bass were first recorded in the Colo- 

 rado River below Parker Dam in 1952 from a plant 

 made three years before, and a booster plant was 

 made in 1953. The fish were taken by air from Cen- 

 tral Valleys Hatchery to Blythe. 



White crappie which were brought from San Diego 

 County lakes to Coyote Reservoir, Santa Clara County, 

 and East Park Reservoir, Colusa County, in 1950, were 

 found to be producing excellent fishing in 1954. 



Good Kokanee Spawns 



Spawning runs of Kokanee salmon, first introduced 

 into California in 1941, were observed in tributaries 

 of Lake Tahoe, Shasta Lake, and Lake Almanor. The 

 1952 spawning runs in Tahoe were particularly grati- 

 fying. They represented the first adults from the first 

 major planting of fingerlings in 1949. Runs in the 

 tributaries of Shasta Lake were exceptional, since they 

 occurred during the summer instead of during the 

 winter as expected. 



In addition to the new introductions and checkups 

 on older ones, the department tried out several species 

 of native fishes in waters where they were not 

 resident. 



Two native species of freshwater smelt found in the 

 lower Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers showed promise 

 as a forage fish for cooler reservoirs. Early in 1954, 

 these fish, the Sacramento smelt and freshwater smelt, 

 were introduced into three Central California Reser- 

 voirs. 



The native California killifish was introduced into 

 Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, in April, 1954, in an 

 attempt to establish a forage fish in this alkaline and 

 unstable lake. 



In an attempt to build up a run of steelhead in the 

 Mokelumne River, steelhead from coastal streams were 

 planted there in 1953. 



The fhreadfin shad, a forage fish being introduced info warmwater 

 reservoirs for forage tor game fish. It was brought from Tennessee. 



