﻿16 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  nets 
  operated 
  by 
  a 
  fisherman 
  under 
  a 
  special 
  contract. 
  Work 
  in 
  

   this 
  field 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  a 
  sudden 
  close 
  at 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  

   by 
  a 
  disastrous 
  windstorm, 
  which 
  put 
  every 
  net 
  out 
  of 
  commission. 
  

  

  An 
  experimental 
  whitefish 
  collecting 
  station, 
  operated 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  

   time 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  waters 
  of 
  upper 
  Lake 
  St. 
  George, 
  gave 
  unsatis- 
  

   factory 
  results, 
  as 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  fish 
  were 
  taken 
  illegally 
  by 
  natives 
  

   in 
  the 
  vicinity. 
  The 
  work 
  of 
  coQecting 
  pike-perch 
  eggs 
  for 
  the 
  

   Detroit 
  hatchery 
  was 
  conducted 
  from 
  April 
  9 
  to 
  May 
  21 
  in 
  Saginaw 
  

   Bay 
  and 
  the 
  Canadian 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Clair 
  River, 
  216,550,000 
  being 
  

   obtamed 
  from 
  fields 
  which 
  had 
  yielded 
  only 
  21,000,000 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring 
  of 
  1912. 
  

  

  The 
  whitefish 
  spawning 
  season 
  in 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  extending 
  from 
  

   November 
  12 
  to 
  December 
  10, 
  was 
  not 
  interfered 
  with 
  to 
  any 
  extent 
  

   by 
  storms, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  accomplished 
  was 
  the 
  most 
  successful 
  iu 
  

   the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Put-in 
  Bay 
  station, 
  350,080,000 
  eggs 
  of 
  good 
  quality 
  

   being 
  secured 
  from 
  fields 
  which 
  yielded 
  only 
  82,000,000 
  in 
  1912. 
  An 
  

   encouraging 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  was 
  the 
  interest 
  displayed 
  in 
  it 
  by 
  

   many 
  of 
  the 
  commercial 
  fishermen, 
  to 
  whose 
  assistance 
  a 
  considerable 
  

   measure 
  of 
  the 
  success 
  may 
  be 
  attributed. 
  Approximately 
  1 
  1 
  1 
  ,000,000 
  

   of 
  the 
  eggs 
  secured 
  were 
  transferred 
  in 
  the 
  green 
  or 
  eyed 
  state 
  to 
  

   Government 
  and 
  State 
  hatcheries, 
  and 
  197,300,000 
  strong, 
  healthy 
  

   fry 
  were 
  hatched 
  from 
  the 
  remainder 
  and 
  hberated 
  in 
  Lake 
  Erie. 
  

   The 
  pike-perch 
  work, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  proved 
  very 
  disappointing, 
  

   especially 
  in 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  encouraging 
  prospects 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  

   when 
  brood 
  fish 
  were 
  on 
  the 
  spawning 
  grounds 
  in 
  the 
  lake 
  in 
  large 
  

   numbers. 
  The 
  prevalence 
  of 
  violent 
  winds 
  prevented 
  the 
  installa- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  fishermen's 
  nets 
  for 
  a 
  month 
  beyond 
  the 
  usual 
  time, 
  and 
  

   before 
  they 
  could 
  be 
  operated 
  to 
  any 
  extent 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  fishes 
  had 
  

   been 
  driven 
  from 
  the 
  grounds 
  by 
  the 
  immense 
  quantities 
  of 
  mud 
  and 
  

   filth 
  discharged 
  into 
  the 
  lake 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  heaviest 
  floods 
  

   ever 
  experienced. 
  The 
  entire 
  crop 
  of 
  eggs, 
  amountmg 
  to 
  133,500,000, 
  

   was 
  developed 
  at 
  the 
  Put-in 
  Bay 
  station, 
  and 
  the 
  46,500,000 
  fry 
  

   produced 
  were 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  lake, 
  no 
  shipments 
  of 
  either 
  eggs 
  or 
  

   fry 
  being 
  sent 
  to 
  other 
  hatcheries. 
  

  

  No 
  cisco 
  work 
  was 
  attempted 
  by 
  the 
  Bureau 
  in 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  as 
  ar- 
  

   rangements 
  for 
  covering 
  all 
  available 
  territory 
  for 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  

   eggs 
  of 
  that 
  species 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Fish 
  Commission. 
  

   The 
  propagation 
  of 
  yellow 
  perch 
  and 
  sauger, 
  instituted 
  in 
  connection 
  

   with 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  Put-in 
  Bay 
  station 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1912, 
  was 
  

   again 
  undertaken, 
  but 
  with 
  poor 
  results. 
  Saugers 
  for 
  some 
  unknown 
  

   reason 
  were 
  very 
  scarce, 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  eggs 
  secured 
  proved 
  worthless, 
  

   while 
  the 
  muddy 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  supply 
  interfered 
  with 
  the 
  

   hatching 
  of 
  the 
  yellow-perch 
  eggs 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  that 
  only 
  

   3,000,000 
  fry 
  were 
  produced 
  from 
  the 
  8,064,000 
  eggs 
  collected. 
  

  

  