to be built at the Great Falls, Big Timber, Emigrant, and Hamilton 

 stations. At the Big Timber station, it is planned to put five concrete 

 tanks inside the hatchery and to replace a section of wood floor with 

 a concrete floor. At the Hamilton station plans are ready for the con- 

 struction of five concrete tanks to be built inside the hatchery and for 

 a new dam to be built in Skalkaho Creek to insure the water supply 

 for this station. 



During the last biennium the department entered into a co-operative 

 agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service whereby the department 

 furnishes the Fish and Wildlife Service certain funds to be used to 

 further the fish cultural program of the service at the Ennis and Creston 

 hatcheries. All fish hatched at these stations, above the requirements of 

 Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, are planted in state waters. 

 It is believed that this arrangement will materially increase the numbers 

 of fish available for the water of Montana. 



The co-operative agreement between the Fish and Game Department 

 and the Fish and Wildlife Service effecting the Warm Water Fish Cul- 

 tural station at Miles City is still operating, and through this agency 

 many fish are planted annually in the waters of eastern Montana. As 

 more reservoirs are being built each year by the farmers and ranchers 

 with the co-operation of the Soil Conservation Service, this program is 

 becoming more and more important to the residents of eastern Montana, 

 where trout fishing does not prevail. 



Old fish distribution facilities have been replaced by new and 

 modern equipment. The department now possesses a highly efficient 

 tank truck that is capable of transporting six hundred pounds of trout 

 anywhere in the state. 



Hatching eggs and rearing fish is not the whole story as these fish 

 must be introduced into the water. It has been repeatedly demonstrated 

 throughout the nation that fishing cannot, in most instances, be im- 

 proved or mainained at the present level by hatchery planting and other 

 accepted management measures if these are based on casual observa- 

 tions and personal belief. It is not sufficient merely to get the fish 

 into the water. The success of hatchery releases may depend upon the 

 following circumstances: (1) the difference between planting fish from 

 the hatchery truck at selected spots and scattering fish evenly over a 

 large area by drifting the river in a boat; (2) the difference between 

 planting fingerlings or legal-size fish; (3) the difference between plant- 

 ing fish at different season; (4) the difference between planting various 

 species in different waters. Then, too, how can casual observation reveal 

 how many fish to plant? 



Large amounts of money have and are being spent on our hatcheries. 

 That this money may not be spent in vain, a staff of biologists has been 

 added to the fisheries division to aid the hatchery men who are already 

 over-burdened with work by finding answers to the questions of distri- 

 bution. The biologists' problems begin when the hatchery truck reaches 

 the stream and terminate with the fish safely nestled in the fisherman's 

 creel. Their work will result in a greater percentage of fish in the creel 

 and fewer dying before they are caught. 



Tagging work is anticipated for the Madison River and Hebgen 

 Lake to determine the best methods of planting. Two four-man crews 

 will operate in various sectors of the state to gather data from which 

 the waters' productivity may be ascertained. 



The nature of this study will be the calculation of growth rate and 

 the fishes' condition for the various lakes and streams. A body of water, 



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