REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 31 



ber, 1903, they yielded 9,000 eggs, from which 4,930 fry were hatched 

 in April and Ma3^ The parent fish had been dieted several months 

 preceding their spawning, being fed very sparingly for a time and at 

 last subjected to a lengthy fast, but this did not suffice to insure prime 

 quality in the eggs, which distinctly lacked normal vigor. It has been 

 suggested that to secure gOod results it may be necessary to supply a 

 more natural food than the hogs' plucks, on which the fish have sub- 

 sisted all their lives. Another brood of landlocked salmon hatched in 

 1901 is held to .secure data as to the comparative rate of growth and 

 eventual size of fish derived from Grand Lake Stream and Lake 

 Auburn. 



A small number of albinos was discovered among the landlocked 

 salmon hatch of 1903, and at the end of the year these fish were 

 apparently healthy and vigorous, 25 remaining out of the original 28. 



At the Baker Lake station, in Washington, it has always been a 

 very difficult mutter to trap the fish which pass through the lake and 

 ascend the ti'ibutary streams to spawn, owing to the fact that these 

 tributar}' streams are of glacial origin, flow through a narrow gorge, 

 and are subject to such tremendous floods that no fish racks can with- 

 stand them. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent a trap 

 similar to that used on Puget Sound was conveyed in sections over a 

 pony trail to the lake, put together, and set up in a depth of from 1 

 to 60 feet at low water, the piling and webbing being made 15 feet 

 above low-water mark to insure the capture of fish during high water. 

 It was set at the outlet of the lake, and although not installed before 

 the run of fish had begun, its practicability was demonstrated and the 

 product of the station was doubled. Still greater results may be 

 expected the coming season. 



As the fish were caught when entering the lake, most of them were 

 unripe. Two inclosures were therefore constructed for holding the 

 unripe fish — one of webbing and piles 100 feet wide by 200 feet long, 

 with an average depth of 6 feet during low water; for the other a 

 slough which flows into the lake was utilized. This slough has a large 

 and constant, though very sluggish, flow of water through it, and con- 

 tains deep holes. There was no api)arent dift'erence in the quality of 

 the eggs, but the fish held in the former inclosure were continually 

 working against the webbing and became more or less f ungused. This 

 was especially noticeable among the male fish, many of which became 

 caught in the webbing by their teeth. The fish in the slough inclosure 

 lay quietly in the deep holes, making no efl'ort to escape, and were in 

 perfect condition at the time of spawning. Many of the fish were 

 thus held for two months, and there was no apparent difference between 

 their eggs and the eggs of those which were found ripe and stripped 

 immediately after being caught. This is the first occasion on which 



