LXXX REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



As the stock of brood-fish of the brook trout at the station was very 

 small, arrangements were made with the Michigan Fish Commission to 

 make collections on the Au Sable Eiver. A field station was opened on 

 that stream late in September, and under the direction of Mr. A. T. 

 Stewart 10,000 fish were captured, chiefly by means of seines, hook and 

 line being used only where they were scattered. They were confined in 

 two ponds, and during the fall 516,400 eggs were obtained from them 

 and transferred to Northville, the shipments being so arranged as not 

 to hold the eggs longer than the eighth day, as experiments in 1895 

 demonstrated that they could be moved with safety up to that time. 

 The eggs collected at this point were not so good as those taken from 

 the brood-fish at Northville, and cost about $1 per 1,000 delivered at 

 the station. 



From the two-year-old brood-fish 128,350 eggs were obtained, 304 

 females yielding an average of 422 each. The fry commenced hatching 

 early in December, and on February 3 a shipment of 100,000 was sent 

 to the Au Sable. Various other plants were made from time to time 

 until March 23, the total distribution aggregating 228,000. At the 

 close of the year there remained on hand 15,000 fingerlings, their aver- 

 age weight being 6£ pounds per 1,000. 



The Loch Leven trout commenced spawning October 15, and from 

 that time until the 27th of November 74,525 eggs were collected from 

 75 females. The eggs were of poor quality, due, it is thought, to the 

 advanced age of the fish. Shipments aggregating 25,000 were made 

 to private applicants; the balance were hatched, and at the close of 

 the year there were 4,715, of an average weight of 2-^- pounds per 

 1,000. There are also 2,969 two-year-old fish in stock, which will spawn 

 during the coming season. 



The steelhead fingerlings on hand at the commencement of the year 

 were retained at the station until March, 1898, when 3,500 were planted 

 in the Pere Marquette River and Cold Creek, and 200 of them were 

 transferred to the Omaha Exposition. It is intended to rear the bal- 

 ance for breeders, as an experiment. These fish did not attain as 

 great a growth as the rainbow, Loch Leven, or brook trout raised under 

 the same conditions, but reports from various sections in which plants 

 have been made indicate the capture of quite a number of specimens 

 measuring from 10 to 12 inches, especially in the Pere Marquette Eiver. 

 None of these specimens have so far been identified, however. On 

 April 19 a shipment of 95,880 eggs was received from Fort Gaston, 

 Cal. These were hatched, and the 75,000 fry resulting from them were 

 planted during the month of May in Little Manistee River, Manistee 

 County, near Grand Eapids, Mich., and various streams tributary to 

 Lakes Huron and Michigan. 



A few breeding black bass transferred to this station two years ago 

 are still in stock. They spawned early in June, but as there were no 

 suitable ponds for the reception of the fry, no efforts were made to 

 rear them. 



