Brown. — Adjustment of Environment vs. Stocking, 141 



As a matter of fact, shortage of breeding areas is seldom, 

 though far from never, the difficulty, as the potential reproduc- 

 tive capacity of the bass (and most other fish) is so great that 

 it never becomes an absolute limiting factor. More bass are, and 

 probably always will be, produced than survive environmental 

 elimination. However, an extension of breeding areas tends to 

 be beneficial unless it cuts down on other necessary factors such 

 as depth areas providing winter shelter, or chemical areas sup- 

 porting submerged vegetation beyond the minimum of each es- 

 sential to maximum bass support. In a natural, undeveloped lake, 

 which will average 500 bass nests year in and year out, fished or 

 unfished, providing the same is done at a constant rate, the 

 saturation point of bass breeders may be said to approximate 

 1,000. That is, in spite of everything, 1,000 mature bass spawn 

 in those waters every year. 



Now on these 500 nests there will be 1,500,000 eggs if we 

 take 3,000 as an approximate number per nest. Though the sur- 

 vival of bass from hatching to reproduction is sometimes referred 

 to as less than 2 per cent, in reality the percentage reaching 

 maturity and reproduction is in the neighborhood of .000269 or 

 somewhat less than .0003 per cent. In other words, if 1,000 ma- 

 ture fish spawn every year they are made up of some which are 

 spawning for the first time, some for the second, and some for 

 the third and fourth times. I have no data on spawning ages 

 so am leaving any earlier or later spawners out of the reckon- 

 ing; but, as any fish spawning for the fourth time would be six 

 years old, and in well-fished waters would probably not exceed 

 that age, I think the figures are close enough. One thousand 

 breeders would therefore (see Table III) probably consist of 50 

 six-year-old fish, 200 five-year-olds, 350 four-year-olds, and 400 

 new spawners. Thus out of the 1,500,000 eggs produced an- 

 nually only 400 annually survive to reproduction, which gives 

 the above perceniage, and at the same time clearly shows, whether 

 the figures are absolutely accurate or not, than the reproductive 

 capacity of the bass is a tremendous potential and gives a glimpse 

 of the wonderful advantages which are not only possible, but 

 positively azvait study and adjustmeut of environments. 



There is no reason why ecological adjustment of aquatic 

 environments, including the fish life, cannot be made an exact 

 science, but it will only become so by close and patient study 



