THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS DURING THE 
FISCAL YEAR 1909, 
CHARACTER OF THE WORK. 
More than 95 per cent of the output of the fish-cultural stations 
consists of important commercial species, notably the salmons, shad, 
whitefish, pike perch, yellow perch, white perch, lake trout, cod, 
pollock, flatfish, and lobsters. These are hatched in lots of many 
millions annually and planted by the Bureau, the fresh-water spe- 
cies principally in the large coastal streams and in the Great Lakes, 
the marine species upon the inshore fishing grounds of the Atlantic. 
The cultivation of the fishes of the interior waters generally classed 
as game fishes, although a comparatively small factor in the total 
output, is a very important feature of the Bureau’s work, supplying 
as it does various kinds of young fish for public streams, lakes and 
ponds, fishing preserves, private ponds, streams, etc., in all parts of 
the United States. Among the fishes most extensively cultivated 
for these purposes are the landlocked salmon, several species of 
trout, the grayling, the basses, crappie, bream, and catfish; various 
others also are handled. The trouts are artificially hatched from 
eggs taken from both wild and domesticated stock; the basses, 
catfish, and others are derived from mature fish held in ponds for 
breeding purposes, or (except the small-mouth black bass) they are 
rescued from the overflows of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. 
Collections from the latter sources include also pike and pickerel, 
which are not distributed to applicants but are returned immediately 
to the main streams. 
METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION. 
The first consideration in the Bureau’s distribution of fishes is to 
make ample return to the waters from which eggs or fish have been 
collected. The remainder of the product is consigned to suitable 
public or private waters upon application indorsed by a United 
States Senator or Representative, the Bureau furnishing to persons 
interested an application blank for this purpose. The blank calls 
for a description of the waters to be stocked, and by this information 
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