ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
447 
THE YELLOW PERCH. 
The yellow or ringed perch ( Perea jiavescens) is one of the most important food- 
fishes of the Middle Atlantic States and the Great Lakes. It is also of considerable 
economic value in the Mississippi Valley. Its average weight is under 1 pound, but 
under favorable conditions it sometimes reaches a weight of several pounds. The 
annual output in the coast and lake States is worth over $250,000. Attempts have 
been made by the United States Fish Commission to acclimatize this lish in California, 
Washington, and Idaho, in hikes, rivers, and ponds. The results of the plants, which 
aggregated 7,830 yearling fish, have not been reported to the Fish Commission, with 
two exceptions. 
In December, 1891, 3,000 yearling yellow perch were placed in the Feather River, 
in Butte County, Cal., and 3,980 yearlings in Lake Cuyamaca, near San Diego, Cal. 
This fish seems to have been successfully introduced into Lake Cuyamaca. Mr. 
Fletcher, of the California fish commission, reports that large numbers have been taken 
by anglers; specimens obtained by him have been identified by Dr. Jordan. 
Some plants of yearlings were made in Washington in 1890, 1891, and 1895. In 
the first-named year 25 were deposited in Loon Lake and 30 in Lake Colville; in 1891, 
500 more were put in Loon Lake; and in 1895, 200 were planted in South Palouse River, 
50 in Loon Lake, 100 in Lake St. Clair near Tacoma, and 100 in Silver Lake. 
Mr. J. A. Borden, of Spokane, who had caught yellow perch in the Potomac River, 
states that these fish are plentiful in Loon Lake. Mr. E. Michael, one of the principal 
fish-dealers in Spokane, handles yellow perch and reports that they sell well. 
Newman Lake, in Idaho, received 200 fish, and private ponds near Hauser and 
Shoshone, in the same State, 200 more, in 1895. 
In 1873 Mr. Livingston Stone attempted the introduction of yellow perch into 
California. His ill-fated aquarium car contained 110 specimens of this fish from the 
Missisquoi River, Vermont. The attempt seems to have elicited some criticism, to 
which the following letter of Mr. Stone, in the issue of Forest and Stream for March 19, 
1874, was a reply. It appeared under the title, “Is the yellow perch a good fish to 
introduce into California ?” and may be appropriately quoted in view of the subsequent 
successful planting of tlie species, as just mentioned: 
I should like to ask those who are so horror-struck at the prospect of introducing yellow perch 
( Perea flavescens) into the State of California whether they suppose that any given fish is the same 
in quality all over the world, or that the yellow perch is a poor fish everywhere because it happens to 
be where they have known it. If they do, I advise them to take what spare time they have and read 
themselves up in natural history. They will then find that it is one of the most common facts of 
natural history that fish, as well as food and fur-yielding animals, vary almost indefinitely in quality 
with their habitat. Why does not the fur of the California mink bring as much as that of a Labrador 
or Lake Superior mink? The reason is obvious. The climate of California does not. produce such 
good fur as the climate of Labrador or Lake Superior, even on the same animals. It is exactly the 
same with fish. Different climates, and especially different waters, produce fish of entirely different 
qualities, though of the same variety. The bass of our southern waters is not the same as the bass 
of Saratoga Lake and Lake Champlain, but a far inferior fish. So with the yellow perch. In some 
warm waters it is a poor fish enough, but it is not so in the cold, pure lakes of New England or 
northeastern New York. 1 will agree with my friend Mr. Mather, if he insists upon it, that the 
yellow perch he is acquainted with is a miserable fish and not fit to take to California. But the 
yellow perch of Saratoga Lake and Lake Champlain and Monadnock Lake, in New Hampshire, is an 
entirely different thing. Mr. Mather must come and eat some of them before he puts them down so 
summarily. If he will, I have no doubt that he will also agree with me that the yellow perch of 
these localities is a very sweet, firm, and excellent fish when in season. I am sure if he should eat 
some Saratoga Lake, perch off the table of my friend Mr. Moon, that he would say that the yellow 
