50 



REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



By April 15 the launches had been thoroughly overhauled and the 

 hatching apparatus tested. The force was increased and vessels hired 

 and stationed at various points to receive eggs from the fishermen. 



The season was late, no eggs being collected until the 19th, on which 

 date the water temperature registered 54°. As heretofore, arrange- 

 ments had been made with all the gillers fishing from Battery station, 

 and within a radius of from 8 to 10 miles, to furnish eggs at the rate 

 of $20 per million, and 20 spawn-takers and assistants were employed 

 for the purpose of attending the floats and doing other work. 



The nightlj^ collections were small (not exceeding 2,000,000) until 

 April 26, when 4,900,000 were secured. They increased materially 

 from that time, reaching a maximum of 16,332,000 on May 2. The 

 season continued uninterruptedlj^ until May 30, the total collections 

 aggregating 167,582,000. 



During the latter part of May ripe females were taken in large 

 numbers, but male fish were very scarce. On one night 12,000,000 eggs 

 were brought in, but the next day only 3,000,000 of them were found 

 to be impregnated. On June 2 the water became so salt that opera- 

 tions were discontinued and the force dismissed. The season's work, 

 though not as great as in the past two years, was exceed in gl}^ satisfac- 

 tory. Of the eggs collected 17,711,000 were planted on the spawning- 

 grounds in the vicinity of the station, as the hatchery was overcrowded ; 

 12,040,000 were shipped to Central station, Washington, D. C, and 

 to the Maryland Fish Commission in Baltimore, and 87,518,000 fr}^ were 

 hatched and planted in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and 

 in the Hudson River. 



The following shows the number of eggs collected during April, 

 May, and June, with the average temperature of air and water : 



Month. 



Eggs taken. 



Average tem- 

 perature. 





Air. 



Water. 



April 



43,484,000 



122, 093, 000 



2,005,000 



°F. 

 56 

 63 

 72.3 



°F. 

 55 



May... 



62.3 



June.- .... 



71 







Total 



167,582,000 











On May 19 the temperature fell very suddenly from 70° to 64°, and 

 on tlie following day it was noticed that manj^ of the fry had bubbles 

 of air in the sac. A large percentage of them exhibited this phe- 

 nomenon in the next five days, the bubbles being easily discernible with 

 the naked eye and so large as to cause the fry to float. This has been 

 noticed before, but there are no data to show that it followed a sudden 

 fall in temperature. Many theories might be advanced to cover this 

 peculiar occurrence, but no definite conclusions have been reached. 



During the spring 100,000 striped-bass eggs were received at the 

 station, but as no apparatus had been prepared for hatching them, 



