﻿82 
  EEPOET 
  OF 
  THE 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  weak 
  point 
  at 
  which 
  this 
  destructive 
  oyster 
  enemy 
  may 
  be 
  attacked. 
  

   At 
  Beaufort 
  the 
  spawning 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  flounder 
  was 
  deter- 
  

   mined 
  and 
  experiments 
  will 
  be 
  conducted 
  during 
  the 
  next 
  fiscal 
  

   year 
  to 
  develop 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  its 
  propagation 
  at 
  the 
  station. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  permanent 
  laboratory 
  at 
  the 
  Fairport, 
  

   Iowa, 
  station 
  was 
  ready 
  for 
  occupancy. 
  This 
  station, 
  which 
  com- 
  

   bines 
  facilities 
  for 
  fish 
  culture, 
  mussel 
  culture, 
  practical 
  shell 
  testing, 
  

   and 
  biological 
  and 
  chemical 
  investigations 
  and 
  experiments 
  is 
  

   designed 
  as 
  a 
  center 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau's 
  activities 
  in 
  the 
  

   Mississippi 
  Valley. 
  

  

  DISEASES 
  OF 
  FISHES. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  Bureau 
  has 
  received 
  growing 
  and 
  insistent 
  

   demands 
  for 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  various 
  fish 
  diseases 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  relations 
  of 
  industrial 
  and 
  other 
  contaminations 
  to 
  the 
  

   fish 
  life 
  in 
  streams. 
  These 
  demands, 
  which 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  Govern- 
  

   ment, 
  State, 
  and 
  private 
  fish-cultural 
  estabUshments, 
  and 
  from 
  State, 
  

   municipal, 
  and 
  private 
  interests, 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  character 
  that 
  makes 
  them 
  

   entirely 
  appropriate 
  for 
  attention 
  at 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  Federal 
  fish- 
  

   ery 
  service; 
  but, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  facihties, 
  the 
  Bureau 
  has 
  been 
  

   able 
  to 
  do 
  very 
  httle 
  to 
  help 
  either 
  itself 
  or 
  the 
  general 
  public 
  in 
  this 
  

   respect. 
  

  

  The 
  cooperative 
  investigation 
  of 
  cancerous 
  tumors 
  in 
  trout, 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  Bureau 
  has 
  been 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Labora- 
  

   tory 
  for 
  the 
  Study 
  of 
  Malignant 
  Disease, 
  has 
  been 
  brought 
  to 
  a 
  close 
  

   by 
  the 
  completion 
  of 
  a 
  report 
  dealing 
  with 
  the 
  cause 
  and 
  nature 
  of 
  

   the 
  disease 
  and 
  its 
  relation 
  to 
  human 
  health. 
  This 
  but 
  clears 
  the 
  

   ground 
  for 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  which 
  vitally 
  concerns 
  the 
  Bureau, 
  

   namely, 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  preventing 
  and 
  curing 
  the 
  

   disease 
  in 
  streams 
  and 
  hatcheries. 
  The 
  cooperating 
  institution 
  is 
  not 
  

   concerned 
  in 
  this 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  and 
  any 
  constructive 
  work 
  in 
  

   the 
  interests 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  must 
  be 
  conducted 
  by 
  the 
  Bureau. 
  

  

  From 
  every 
  consideration 
  of 
  economy 
  adequate 
  means 
  should 
  be 
  

   provided 
  for 
  such 
  investigations. 
  At 
  one 
  hatchery 
  alone 
  — 
  Holden, 
  

   Vt. 
  — 
  over 
  350,000 
  trout 
  died 
  from 
  an 
  epidemic 
  in 
  May 
  and 
  June. 
  

   This 
  was 
  practically 
  the 
  entire 
  stock 
  on 
  hand 
  and 
  the 
  cost 
  to 
  pro- 
  

   duce 
  these 
  fish, 
  to 
  say 
  nothing 
  of 
  their 
  ultimate 
  value, 
  was 
  greater 
  

   tJian 
  would 
  sufiice 
  to 
  pay 
  for 
  an 
  assistant 
  qualified 
  to 
  fimd 
  means 
  of 
  

   prevention 
  of 
  the 
  losses. 
  

  

  