REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 



To His Excellencij, John P. Altgeld, Governor: 



We beg leave to submit herewith our report as Board of State Fish 

 Commissioners for tlie two years ending Sejotember 30, 1896. 



The last two seasons have each presented peculiar phases, and 

 have materially affected our work of collecting and distributing the 

 native food fishes. The early part of the season of 1895 was one of 

 extreme heat and drought, followed late in summer by excessive rain- 

 fall. For a number of years previous, owing to the extremely low 

 water, grasses and weeds had accvimulated in the beds of the ponds 

 usually filled with water during the summer months. When these 

 low places again became filled with water, the decaying vegetation, 

 with other causes. ]>olluted the waters not only of these ponds, but of 

 the rivers themselves, to such an extent that fish perished by thou- 

 sands, and those taken for distribution were in such bad condition 

 that only a small percentage could be used for that purpose. Even 

 in such lakes as Spring Lake, where the water is ordinarily al- 

 most pure, the mortalit}' was ver}^ great. The season of 189(). on the 

 contrary, was one of unprecedented plenty, so far as concerned the 

 supplv of young fishes in the drj'ing pools and lakes, and while we 

 were able to make a good distribution even under the unfavorable 

 conditions of the season of 1895, we have made one of the best dis- 

 tributions during the season of 1896 that has ever been made in the 

 history of the Commission. In the appendix will be found a list of 

 distributions covering the work of both years. 



The fish distributed have consisted mainly of the finer varieties, 

 the coarser fish taken at the same time being jolaced in the nearest 

 deep water. ( )ur methods of work were fully explained in our report 

 for 1893 and 1894. 



The work of the Fish Commission in the past has shown the needs 

 of the waters of the State, while the investigations made as to the 

 life habits of the various species of fishes indigenous to those waters 

 have developed a knowledge of the conditions essential to a s\iccess- 

 ful repopulation of the waters, impossible to attain in any other way. 

 We cannot, of course, speak for others, but our own observation has 

 led us to believe that the most economical and practical method of 

 increasing the food supply of our waters lies in the propagation and 

 distribution, chieflv. of the coarser varieties of our fishes, such as the 



