LXVIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



During November and December 2,989 fish, ranging from two to four 

 years old and from 5 to 13 inches in length, were obtained and deliv- 

 ered at the station without loss at an expense of $367.80. No difficulty- 

 was experienced in making this collection, as numbers of streams 

 within 40 or 50 miles of the station are well stocked with trout. As 

 an illustration, in Higgins Creek, about 12 miles southwest of Erwin, 

 600 were taken in a stretch of less than 2 miles. The fish collected 

 were hauled across the mountaius to the station in wagons, and though 

 many of them were en route two days but one fish was lost. They were 

 placed in the large ponds, and though examined frequently no eggs 

 were secured. It is presumed that the ripe fish spawned on the gravel 

 bottom around the springs boiling up in the bottom of the pond. 



The exact number on hand at the close of the year is not known, but 

 many were lost. It is believed that ttie mortality was largely due to 

 the depredations of cats, to which the brook trout, lying during the 

 night in shallow water near the shore, fell an easy prey. The wounds 

 were usually found on the back of the neck near the gill-covers and on 

 the sides as far back as the first dorsal fin. The cats, when discovered 

 to be enemies of the fish, were killed. 



In February 100,000 brook-trout eggs were received from East Free- 

 town, Mass., and although the loss during incubation and the early fry 

 stages was apparently small, when the fish were transferred to the 

 ponds on June 9 there remained only 11,562 by actual count. 



During December 1,826 yearling rainbow trout were received from 

 Wytheville and placed in one of the ponds. These fish have not done 

 well, quite a number having died during the season; a large propor- 

 tion have become very dark in color, and many of them are blind. The 

 eyes protrude gradually, and are sometimes seen outside of the socket. 

 The fish are apparently in good condition otherwise, fat, and without 

 external wounds. No explanation of this condition can be furnished, 

 but there is an impression among the people in the vicinity that rain- 

 bow trout have a tendency to become blind when introduced into the 

 large springs of this section. 



Two well-authenticated cases have been reported: General Wilder 

 placed 14 adult rainbow trout obtained from Wytheville in a large 

 spring near Elizabethtown, Tenn., and in a short time every one was 

 blind. Another lot, placed in a large spring near Erwin, suffered the 

 same fate. The blindness among the station fish occurred in ponds 

 which had springs at the bottoms. The brook trout were not affected 

 in this way except in a few instances where they worked their way into 

 the reservoir; all fish entering the reservoir showed these symptoms, 

 and died. The presence of minerals in the water may cause this diffi- 

 culty, but it more probably results from the settling of air bubbles or 

 grit on the mucous coating of the eyeballs. The water contains an 

 immense amount of air, bubbling from the springs and buoying up 

 the fine gravel and sediment unnaturally in the water. The reservoir 

 water always contains sediment in suspension. 



