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REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



Besides the albino forms of brook, lake, and brown trout to which I have 

 referred, the United States Fish Commission has reared to adult form albino 

 landlocked salmon. As they did not prove productive under domestication the 

 experiment was abandoned. 



There are some reasons why albino trout will never become common as a wild 

 fish. First, there are the natural enemies of fish, such as the kingfisher and blue 

 heron (crane), which live on fish they catch from the water. The albino being 

 so noticeable, on account of its color, is most likely to be caught. I have already 

 related a few circumstances where this has occurred. The Pennsylvania Department 

 of Fisheries received about two hundred albinos from the Minnesota Commission 

 last summer, and Commissioner Meehan says: "I am sorry to say all of them 

 were devoured by cranes in a single day while the employees of the hatchery were at 

 their dinner." On account of their color, they would be a prey of the other fish 

 in the same water. Their rarity is another factor. Judging from the success of 

 the Minnesota Commission there is no doubt but that they can be propagated, 

 and will be able to secure their food in competition with other fish. Their chief 

 value seems to lie in their beauty as a fish for exhibition purposes. 



