REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. aie 
to be begun; the capacity of the hatchery for lake-trout eggs has been 
‘increased to 35,000,000 by the installation of more hatching troughs, 
additional pipe lines have been laid to the hatchery and ponds, and the 
drainage system has been enlarged. 
At Bozeman, Mont., a hot water heating plant has been installed in 
the hatchery, and other needed improvements are being prepared for. 
At Leadville, Colo., a 12-inch pipe line has been laid from Upper 
Evergreen Lake to the hatchery for the purpose of obtaining a new 
water supply, the former one not being sufficiently pure and being 
also subject to extreme changes of temperature. 
CPERATIONS OF VESSELS. 
Steamer Albatross.—On July 2, 1903, having on board the special 
commission to inquire into the conditions and needs of the Alaska 
salmon fisheries, the vessel left Port Townsend for southeast Alaska, 
where the investigation was begun at Boca de Quadra Bay. It was 
desired to visit as many of the fisheries as time would permit, and the 
itinerary embraced the island passages inthe vicinity of Metlakahtla 
and Loring, and extended northward via Wrangell, through Stephens 
Passage and Lynn Canal, to Skagway, returning by way of Dundas 
Bay through Chatham and Peril straits to Sitka. Thence the vessel 
proceeded across the Gulf of Alaska to Afognak Island, Kadiak Island, 
and the Shumagin Islands, Chignik Bay, Yakutat Bay, and back to 
Sitka. 
Shore parties visited canneries and salteries throughout the region 
under investigation, and examined the streams and lakes with refer- 
ence to biological conditions as well as the commercial aspects of their 
fisheries, while dredgings and collections were made by the ship and 
important material and data were obtained in the shore and deeper 
waters. The Shumagin Islands were visited for the purpose of deter- 
mining the desirability of inaugurating cod hatching at that point, and 
during a few days’ delay at Skagway a party explored the headwaters 
of the Yukon for the purpose of making collections and gaining infor- 
mation respecting the ascent of salmon in that river. On the return 
voyage from Sitka a number of canneries omitted during the northern 
trip were inspected, the vessel reaching Seattle September 9 and San 
Francisco September 24. From that date until February 17 the vessel 
was in port, during which time repairs were made and an engine and 
boiler were installed in a new steam launch. 
On February 17 the Albatross left San Francisco to take part ina 
study of the fishery resources of the California coast, instituted by the 
Bureau in cooperation with Leland Stanford University and the Uni- 
versity of California. The end in view was the exploration and develop- 
ment of the fishing banks, and operations were carried on in the 
F. C. 1904——2 
