Conservation Commission 337 



Pikeperch eggs were taken from April 4: to April 19, 1912. 

 Using 2,572 females and 9,173 males we procured 1,124% quarts 

 of eggs. Of these we shipped 460 quarts to Caledonia, Cold 

 Spring Harbor, Linlithgo, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. This 

 left a total of 6 64% quarts in the hatchery from which were 

 hatched 94,691,250 fry. Eighty-eight applications were filled 

 with 9,425,000 fry, and the remaining 85,266,250 were planted 

 in Oneida Lake. 



The season was not so favorable as that of last year. The lake 

 was open several times during the winter and the high winds 

 prevailing scattered the fish from the spawning grounds. The ice 

 went out of the lake earlier than usual so that the temperature 

 of the water in the lake and in Scriba Creek was nearly the same. 



From April 26 to June 1 we caught 1,025 brood black bass. 

 These bass were placed in the six ponds at the hatchery. From 

 May 23 to 25 it was very cold after having been very warm previous 

 to that time, and the bass in one pond left their nests and the eggs 

 were spoiled. About one-half of the nests in another pond were 

 spoiled for the same reason. Fortunately these were the only 

 ponds containing eggs at the time, they being the first ponds filled. 

 Afterwards these nests were rebuilt and covered with eggs al- 

 though no new fish except a few males were put into the ponds. 

 About the latter part of June we were obliged to plant the re- 

 maining fry and fingerlings in the lake owing to the scarcity of 

 water from the supply pond. The number of black bass fry 

 produced was 423,500, and the fingerlings 66,300. This repre- 

 sents an increase in the number of fry over last year and a de- 

 crease in the number of fingerlings. The gill disease among the 

 fingerlings was scarcely noticeable and only eight of the brood 

 bass died. 



£Tot as manv silver bass were causrht in the nets while fishing 

 for black bass as there were last year. Five silver bass were 

 placed in a separate pond at the hatchery for experimental pur- 

 poses ; but owing to low water we had to replace them in the creek. 

 I have found quite a number of silver bass fingerlings hatched 

 in the lake last spring, and they were about twice as large as black 

 bass fingerlings of the same age. Hundreds of finger! ing yellow 

 perch were found this fall lying dead on the bottom of Scriba 



