LXX REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



71° at the surface. During the winter, though the temperature of the 

 air reached zero, no ice was formed in the reservoir, ponds, or ditch. 



During the spring the station grounds were overrun with stray dogs 

 and cats, and with a view to checking this influx all of the discarded 

 food was buried; This measure apparently had no effect, and it 

 became necessary to destroy all intruders of this character found on 

 the grounds. Frogs of all kinds were also abundant, and it became 

 necessary to destroy many of them. The food frogs were removed from 

 the station grounds and placed in a stream below the railroad. In 

 May and June tree frogs were spawning in large numbers in the ponds. 

 Kingfishers were often observed, although few were killed. Snapping 

 turtles were noticed occasionally while the ponds were being excavated, 

 but not in great numbers. The miller's thumb is abundant. 



While engaged in the construction of the station the superintendent 

 was the recipient of valuable assistance from residents in the vicinity, 

 officials of the Ohio River and Charleston Railroad, Mr. Dana Harmon, 

 attorney- general of the first Tennessee district, and Mr. P. L. Haun, 

 sheriff of Unicoi County, through whose cooperation the collection of 

 wild trout from the streams of eastern Tennessee was made possible, as 

 the laws of the State forbid the capture of trout during the fall months. 



Put-in Bay Station, Ohio (J. J. Stranahan, Superintendent). 



With the view to increasing the collection of whitefish eggs on Lake 

 Erie, for restocking the waters of this lake and supplying the hatch- 

 eries on Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Superior, it was determined, in 

 addition to collecting eggs, as heretofore, from the nets fished in the 

 western end of the lake, to pen large numbers of male and female fish 

 and hold them until ripe, as it was believed that, if this method proved 

 feasible, the collections of eggs would be limited only by the num- 

 ber of fish caught. Under the old system severe gales during the 

 height of the spawning season reduced the collections from 30 to 50 

 per cent, notwithstanding the fact that nearly as many fish were caught 

 over the same area as usual, and though nearly the same amount of 

 money was expended in the work. Arrangements were made with a 

 number of fishermen in the vicinity of Put-in Bay and Bass Islands 

 to obtain the fishes desired, holding them in crates until the close of 

 the season, when they were to be returned to the fishermen. 



During October, when we had anticipated securing many fish, the 

 weather was so unfavorable that they did not arrive on the spawning- 

 grounds for at least two weeks later than usual, and none were secured 

 until November 8, and these were taken under adverse circumstances. 

 Collections continued until November 27, when all of the nets were 

 removed. The total number secured was 1,247, and 1,119 of these 

 were transferred to live-boxes or crates. Of the 334 females, 260 were 

 available as spawners and produced 10,269,000 eggs, an average of 

 39,496 to the fish. The balance of the females were "plugged" or died 

 from injuries. The disproportion of sexes was due to the fact that 

 iarge numbers of males were penned early in the season on the suppo- 



