I32 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Delaware rivers. In this way the plant made in the Hudson river this season equalled 

 the plant of last year. 



All of the mascalonge hatching is done at Chautauqua lake in boxes with double- 

 wire screen top and bottom, sunk in about four feet of water. 



The season's work was highly satisfactory, in both the number hatched and the 

 quality of the fry planted. The output of the mascalonge fry for the year was 

 3,075,000, which beats any previous record by nearly a million. 



The Commission has been very careful about granting applications for mascalonge 

 fry for planting in inland waters, as they make a most wonderful growth and reach an 

 enormous size. They can be well named the fresh-water shark. If planted in many 

 of the small inland lakes the result would be that the perch, pickerel and bass fishing 

 in these waters would be greatly damaged. 



Applications for mascalonge fry for proper waters, such as the St. Lawrence and 

 Niagara rivers or Lake Ontario, have been granted as far as possible. 



In this connection mention should be made of the garpike or billfish extermi- 

 nation that has been carried on at different times during the past two seasons at 

 Chautauqua lake, two special appropriations, one of $1,000 and the other of $500, 

 being made by the Legislature to carry on the work. 



It has been impossible to make a yearly report before, as the first season's work 

 was not completed at the end of a fiscal year. 



The appropriations were made at the request of the Farmers' and Citizens' Game 

 and Fish Protective Association of Chautauqua county, the members of the 

 association being of the opinion that the billfish were destroying large numbers of 

 game fish in the lake, such as young bass and mascalonge. This I found was true, to 

 some extent, as I opened several of the billfish and made an examination of their 

 stomachs, and in two cases found young black bass. 



Before the work was commenced, advice as to the right time of the year and 

 where to find thousands of the billfish was freely offered, but as no one had ever made 

 a business of fishing in any manner for this worthless fish, it was decided that the first 

 year we would commence netting in September, and the next season carry it on from the 

 close of the mascalonge hatching season in May into the month of July so as to cover all 

 the time during which, I had been informed, these fish could be seen in great numbers. 



Seines, pound and trap nets were used in the work, as the game fish that would 

 necessarily be caught could be returned to the lake without injury if caught with the 

 above nets. The pound nets did by far the best work, and the second season were 

 used exclusively. To cover as much territory as possible a small steam yacht was 

 chartered to carry the nets every two to four days to new fishing grounds. In this 

 way all portions of the lake were carefully fished. 



