FORTY-FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



35 



OUTMODED PLANTS ABANDONED 



With the completion of the hatchery expansion 

 program, three of the older, outmoded hatcheries were 

 abandoned. The abandoned installations are Prairie 

 Creek Hatcher\', Humboldt County; Kings River 

 Hatchery, Fresno Count); and Madera Hatcher\', 

 Madera County. This brought to 10 the total of out- 

 moded hatcheries that have been closed during the 

 modernization period. 



All new hatcheries constructed during the past five- 

 \ear period have been as functional in design as pos- 

 sible, with low future upkeep costs in mind and labor- 

 saving devices stressed wherever possible. 



As a result, the average cost of raising and distribut- 

 ing trout dropped from $1.07 a pound in the previous 

 biennium to 89 cents in 1954-55, and 93 cents in 

 1955-56. This is particularly noteworthy in view of 

 the general increase in material and labor costs which 

 occurred during the biennium. 



"ESCAWEIGHER" DEVELOPED 



The major improvement in handling catchable trout 

 at hatcheries resulted from the development of the 

 fish "escaweigher" by department personnel. This 

 device consists of a cleated rubber belt conveyor de- 

 signed like a grain products conveyor. The fish are 

 delivered to the top of the planting tank in a compara- 

 ti\ely dry state and the displacement method is then 

 used in determining the number of fish added to the 

 tank. Sight gauges mounted on the tank, indicate the 

 amount of water being displaced. 



This method has been found more accurate than 

 previous methods used, and the "escaweigher" reduces 



Two time-consuming jobs— loading and weighing of hatchery produced 



trout for planting — ore combined info one by the "escaweigher," which 



cuts time taken by previous operations by two-thirds. Inset shows cleated 



rubber conveyor belt. 



(Fish and Game Photos) 



ml^f-^M 



the time in loading 2,000 pounds of fish from about 

 90 minutes to less than 30 minutes. 



With larger loads of fish being hauled and greater 

 distances involved in distribution, improvements also 

 have been made to the large fish planting equipment. 

 The newest fish planting trucks, capable of hauling 

 2,000 pounds, are equipped with electric refrigeration. 

 Elimination of the use of ice increases the over-all 

 load capacity of the truck and eliminates time lost on 

 the road for re-icing. 



The transferring of large numbers of catchable 

 sized trout from distant hatcheries to areas without 

 hatcheries has been facilitated by the construction of 

 temporary fish planting bases. Here, the fish are placed 

 in large holding tanks, and are later reloaded into 

 smaller trucks for planting into streams and lakes. The 

 tanks used at these bases were designed by the depart- 

 ment's engineering section, and consist of a half-round, 

 aluminized steel flume with end plates, screens, and 

 w ater intake and outlet facilities. 



FISH PLANTING BASES 



The construction of the following fish planting 

 bases w as completed during the biennium: 



AincriCiVi River Base— On the South Fork American 

 River near Kyburz in El Dorado County, three tanks. 

 Capacity: 45,000 catchable trout. 



Greenhorn Base— On Greenhorn Creek near Quincy 

 in Plumas County, seven tanks. Capacity: 45,000 catch- 

 ables and 50,000 fingerlings. 



Bear River Base— On Bear River near Emigrant Gap in 

 Placer County, two tanks. Capacity: 39,000 catchables. 



Fiddle Creek Base-On Fiddle Creek near Downie- 

 ville in Sierra County, one tank. Capacity: 15,000 

 catchables. 



San Lorenzo Base— On tributary to San Lorenzo 

 River in Santa Cruz County, one tank. Capacity: 15,000 

 catchables. 



DRY FEED EXPERIMENT 



The department experimented with dry feeds for 

 trout at hatcheries in place of the conventional "wet" 

 diets, such as frozen liver and ocean fish. While much 

 remains to be done to develop a complete trout and 

 salmon diet, experiments carried on so far indicate that 

 dr\- feeds may be fed satisfactorily at many hatcheries 

 and produce good fish with less handling of foods. 



A complete summation of fish production and dis- 

 tribution will be found in Tables 16 and 18, Appendix. 



SALVAGE AND TRANSPLANTING 



Work performed in this program included the cap- 

 ture and transplanting of various species of game fish 

 from areas of abundance to areas of need, as well as 

 the rescue of game fish from lakes and streams that 

 became uninhabitable due to lack of water. 



Central Valleys Hatchery near Elk Grove continued 

 its role as the center for warmwater fish salvage and 

 transplanting for the State. 



