136 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
only when natural food is not available. There is reason to doubt whether it lives for 
the most part at the surface of the water; observations have shown the young as 
often at the bottom and at the middle depth of the aquarium as at the surface. 
Reports from various sections along the coast of Massachusetts show that young 
lobsters are abundant; from ten to twenty, 2 to 4 inches in length, have been 
frequently found in a single trap. The number caught during the x>ast season is 
unprecedented, and the abundance is credited to the plants made by this Commission,. 
It is believed that if the work is continued on the same scale as in the past few years 
this declining fishery will be fully reestablished. 
In pursuance of the plan outlined in my previous report, of testing the value for 
shad propagation of certain rivers along the south Atlantic coast, prior to the estab- 
lishment of auxiliary hatcheries, careful observations on the movements, food, and 
growth of the young shad in various streams were made during the winter by scientific 
assistants. In February and early March the steamer Fish Hatch was stationed on 
the St. Johns River. Later in March the steamer proceeded north to Albemarle 
Sound, where work was undertaken at the mouth of the Chowan River with such 
favorable results that over 27,000,000 shad eggs were collected. This, with the collec- 
tions on the Potomac, Susquehanna, and Delaware rivers, made an aggregate of over 
203,000,000 for the season’s work, an increase of 55,000,000 over the year preceding. 
With the establishment of auxiliary stations at a few points along the Atlantic coast 
there is little doubt, after this year’s experience, that the work can be largely increased. 
The lake fisheries have also received particular attention; and although, owing 
to restrictive legislation, the field for the collection of lake trout and whitefish eggs 
has been confined to Lakes Superior, Erie, and Ontario, a larger collection than in the 
past is anticipated, as arrangements have been made, in addition to the usual method, 
to pen several thousand adult whitefish in Lake Erie, with a view to stocking tlie 
hatcheries in the upper lakes. 
Arrangements have also been made for increasing the production of landlocked 
salmon by opening an additional station on Grand Lake Stream, Maine. Owing to 
the partial failure in the catch of Atlantic salmon during the past spring, when the 
brood fish were collected for the fall work, it is doubtful whether the collection ot 
eggs this year will exceed 3,000,000. 
The trout stations in the various sections of the country have made fair collections 
of eggs, and though the season is not as yet sufficiently advanced for definitely deter- 
mining the output, there is little doubt that all past seasons will be exceeded. During 
the spring and fall the usual distributions of yearling bass and crappie were made, 
and a carload of tautog was sent to the Pacific and planted off the Farallone Islands. 
The system of auxiliary stations inaugurated on the Pacific Coast last year, for 
increasing the output of salmon, has been further extended, so that the collections 
this season will probably double the phenomenal take of last year. Operations are 
now being conducted at the Baird, Battle Creek, and Fort Gaston stations, California; 
on the Clackamas, Rogue, and Salmon Rivers in Oregon, and on the Little White 
Salmon River in Washington. The results already achieved show the following 
increased collections: 
Clackamas, 6,000,000, against 1,000,000 in 1896. 
Little White Salmon, 12,600,000, against 2,125,000 in 1896. 
Baird Station, 7,000,000, against 4,000,000 in 1896. 
