16^:. American Fisheries Society. 



PREPARATION OF FISH FOR SHIPMENT 



The distribution problem begins at the hatchery and it is 

 necessary, therefore, to use proper care in preparing the 

 fish for shipment if they are expected to withstand the 

 vicissitudes of transportation. Fish are necessarily trans- 

 ported under unnatural conditions and diseased or weak- 

 ened fish that cannot be held at stations without consider- 

 able loss cannot be expected to survive in transportation 

 cans for days and even weeks. 



Warm-water fishes, in order to be successfully trans- 

 ported, should be held in cool running water until they 

 have become "hardened". The importance of "hardening" 

 fish was recently emphasized by several shipments that were 

 sent to Central Station, Washington, D. C. In one instance, 

 five cans of gambusia were collected from warm stagnant 

 water and immediatelj'^ shipped. The consignment arrived 

 in very poor condition and within twenty-four hours every 

 fish had died. 



A shipment of the same species was then ordered from 

 another station, the time involved in shipment being about 

 the same. The consignor, in this instance, made the collec- 

 tion and held the fish in cool running water for about thirty- 

 six hours. It is needless to say that this consignment, which 

 was forwarded to Washington, D. C. without an attendant, 

 reached its destination in excellent condition and the fish 

 were successfully reshipped to various points throughout the 

 country. 



An idea of the importance of shutting off food in advance 

 of shipment may be gained by reference to a consignment 

 of trout forwarded from one of the bureau's hatcheries to 

 Washington, D. C. Two pails of fish were forwarded under 

 identical conditions except that the fish in one pail had 

 been fed within twenty-four hours of shipment. In the 

 second pail the fish had not received food within thirty-six 

 hours of shipment. On the arrival of the consignment at 

 Central Station, the fish that had not received food for thirty- 

 six hours were in excellent condition, while those in the other 

 pail were in but fair condition. 



When fish which have cannibalistic tendencies are to be 

 shipped, it is quite important that they be graded so that 

 fish as near the same size as possible will be placed in a can. 



If care is used in preparing fish for shipment, there is no 

 reason why such species as black bass, bluegill bream and 

 other warm-water species cannot be successfully transported 

 for weeks and probably months. 



