FEDER.VL FISH FARMING 



421 



Delaware River, and has detailed the 

 steamer Fish Hawk for shad hatching in 

 Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, and 

 Florida. The central station, in Wash- 

 ington, is operated largely for experi- 

 mental and exhibition purposes. 



In order to counteract the effects of the 

 very exhausting fisheries of the Great 

 Lakes, the government has maintained 

 hatcheries for many years, and now oper- 

 ates 6 belonging to the United States and 

 2 belonging to the State of Michigan. 

 The fishes to which attention is given are 

 those which enter most largely into the 

 catch of the fishermen, namely, the white- 

 fish, cisco. lake trout, and pike perch, the 

 annual output of which now exceeds one 

 and a half billions. Under arrangement 

 with the Canadian authorities, two egg- 

 collecting stations for whitefish. cisco, 

 and lake trout are maintained at points 

 in Ontario. 



The hatcheries on the rivers and lakes 

 of the Pacific coast are devoted almost 

 exclusively to the various salmons. In 

 California, where the bureau established 

 a salmon hatchery as early as 1872, there 

 is one central or main station, at Baird, 

 on the McCloud River, with important 

 collecting stations on two other tribu- 

 taries of the Sacramento. In Oregon a 

 central hatcher}^ at Oregon City, on the 

 Willamette River, has 3 subhatcheries on 

 tributaries of the Columbia, in Oregon 

 and \\"ashington, and 3 subhatcheries on 

 tributaries of the Rogue River. Oregon, 

 in addition to several egg-collecting sta- 

 tions. 



The interests of the large salmon 

 fisheries of the Puget Sound region are 

 safeguarded by a hatchery on Baker 

 Lake, on the Skagit River, Washington, 

 and will soon be further aided by sev- 

 eral other nurseries for which Congress 

 has made provision. The two latest ad- 

 ditions to the western salmon hatcheries 

 are at Yes Bay and Afognak, in Alaska, 

 at which pomts immense numbers of 

 blueback or sockeye salmon are now 

 being put forth. 



SHAD AND STRIPED BASS IN PACIFIC 



A significant feature of artificial prop- 

 agation on the Pacific seaboard is that 



in the Columbia basin the hatching of 

 the acclimatized shad has begun on a 

 small scale, and in the Sacramento basin 

 the cultivation of the acclimatized striped 

 bass has commenced under conditions 

 which indicate that more eggs of this 

 species may be obtained in California than 

 in any of the States to which the fish 

 is native. 



The hatcheries in the interior regions 

 constitute the most numerous class, and 

 their output reaches the largest number 

 of people. Their operations are ad- 

 dressed chiefl)^ to the so-called "game" 

 fishes, which, while caught mostly by 

 anglers, nevertheless constitute an impor- 

 tant element of the food supply. At these 

 stations large numbers of fish are reared 

 to the fingerling or yearling sizes before 

 being released ; for this purpose more or 

 less extensive pond areas are required. 



A peculiar kind of station which is in- 

 cluded in this general class is that devoted 

 to the collection of fishes of various kinds 

 obtained from the overflows in the upper 

 Mississippi A^alley. In the lowlands 

 along the streams in this region the spring 

 floods receding leave disconnected sloughs 

 and pools, which either become dry dur- 

 ing the summer or, if they remain until 

 the winter, freeze solid, and the immense 

 numbers of bass, crappy, and other de- 

 sirable-species therein are lost in the ordi- 

 nary course of events. By seining these 

 waters the bureau obtains large numbers 

 of fish that would otherwise perish, re- 

 turning some of them to their native 

 streams and distributing others to adja- 

 cent waters. 



ENORMOUS OUTPUT OF THE HATCHERIES 



The fish-cultural work of the federal 

 government has now attained a magni- 

 tude that cannot readily be compre- 

 hended, and is increasing at an exceed- 

 ingly rapid rate. Especially marked has 

 been the increase in the hatchery product 

 during the past ten years, owing in part to 

 the establishment of new stations, in part 

 to the extension of operations at existing 

 stations, and in part to greater efficiency 

 of methods and appliances. The work 

 during the fiscal year iqoQ reached larger 

 Dronortions than ever before, over three 



