32 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



the Bureau has been successful in the pennincr of the Pacific coast sal- 

 mon for an extended period, but it must })e borne in mind that the 

 water at Baker Lake is always at a much lower temperature than the 

 water at an}^ other station where salmon oi)crations are conducted. 



The method of killing and bleeding the fish by cutting ofi' their tails 

 before taking the spawn has been adopted at this station, and the use 

 of a normal salt solution for washing the eggs has not been found 

 necessary if the fish are properly bled. 



The method of taking spawn at the Clackamas hatchery and its sub- 

 stations was similar to tliat of previous years, but several experiments 

 were tried to test the etticacy of bleeding the fish prior to taking the 

 eggs, and the advantage of this method, if an}^ over the use of a normal 

 salt solution for washing the eggs. Experiments were also made to 

 determine whether or not eggs should be washed before the}^ are trans- 

 ported. A million eggs were taken by killing the fish and extrud- 

 ing the eggs by hand pressure; the eggs were then washed and ferti- 

 lized, and they hatched with a loss of 10.6 per cent. Six hundred and 

 eleven thousand eggs were taken ])y killing the females, bleeding by 

 cutting ofi:' the tail, pressing the eggs out b}" hand, and washing them 

 with a normal salt solution. This lot hatched with a loss of 18.7 per 

 cent. Two million six hundred and fifty thousand eggs were taken by 

 killing the fish, bleeding them by cutting oft' the tail, pressing the 

 eggs out by hand and fertilizing without washing. These hatched 

 with a loss of 9.9 per cent. Seven hundred and fifty-four thousand 

 eggs were taken from fish which were killed and not bled, the eggs 

 being taken b}" incision and washed in a normal salt solution before 

 being fertilized. The loss in this case was 3.8 per cent. Two million 

 five hundred and ninety-three thousand eggs were obtained b}' killing 

 and bleeding the females, then taking the eggs by incision and washing 

 Avithout the use of the normal salt solution. The loss in hatching 

 amounted to 1.5 per cent. Six hundred and nine thousand eggs were 

 taken by killing and bleeding the fish, taking the eggs b}' incision, 

 and washing in a normal salt solution. These hatched with a loss of 

 2.02 per cent. One hundred and seventy-six thousand eggs wore 

 taken by incision after killing and bleeding the fish, and washed in 

 a normal salt solution. These hatched with a loss of 1.9 per cent. 

 The experiments were not concluded. 



A large munber of young salmon, the product of eggs obtained at 

 various substations, were reared to the fingerling stage and marked 

 before being liljerated. The adipose fin was removed on all, and in 

 order to identify the difl'erent lots the fish hatched at Clackamas were 

 given an additional mark by removing the anterior portion of the 

 dorsal fin. The posterior half of the dorsal fin was removed from the 

 fish produced at Little White Salmon, the anterior half of the anal 



