12 
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
In response to requests reaching the Bureau through the Depart- 
ment of State, fish ova to the number of 568,150 have been donated 
to foreign countries, as follows: 
Country and species. 
Number. 
Country and species. 
Number. 
Argentina: 
Blueback salmon 
100,000 
50, 000 
200, 000 
50. 000 
15. 000 
25.000 
92. 000 
France: 
Brook trout 
10,000 
10,000 
16,150 
Brook trout 
Lake trout 
Chinook salmon 
Germany: 
Rainbow trout 
Lake trout 
Lfindl n ek' pf l salmnn 
Total 
Rainbow trout 
568, 150 
Silver salmon 
Through the courtesy of the Canadian fishery authorities the 
Bureau, as heretofore, has maintained at Kossport, Ontario, as an 
adjunct of the Duluth (Minnesota) hatchery, a station for the col- 
lection of eggs of the lake trout. 
BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES AND EXPERIMENTS. 
OYSTER INVESTIGATIONS AND SURVEYS. 
The field work connected with the oyster-planting experiments in 
Louisiana was brought to a conclusion in January, 1909, and a full 
account of the results is in course of preparation for publication. As 
indicated in a previous report, the Bureau’s efforts have met with an 
unusually prompt commercial response in Barataria Bay, which was 
totally unproductive of oysters when the work began, in January, 
1906. At the end of the first year the experimental beds showed so 
clearly the feasibility and profitableness of oyster culture that in 1907 
there were issued by the State 64 leases, covering 700 acres of barren 
bottom, and at present there are in force 77 leases, covering 906 acres. 
None of these private holdings became productive until 1908, but in 
that year there w T ere shipped to market, from waters that previously 
had produced nothing, 97,090 bushels of oysters, valued at $59,748. 
These oysters were of high quality and were in steady demand in New 
Orleans, where oysters from the natural reefs could hardly be dis- 
posed of at one-fourth the price. 
As an immediate result of this work, the State received during the 
year an income that exceeded the amount expended by the Bureau 
in all the experiments in this section. When the grounds at present 
under lease become fully productive, and especially when the other 
available bottom in the bay is acquired for planting purposes, the 
State’s revenue from this source will be largely augmented and the 
income of the planters will be increased several times. It is gratify- 
ing to the Bureau that the zeal with which the people of Louisiana 
have acted on the information furnished by the Government has 
resulted in the establishment of a profitable industry among an 
industrious population of small means. 
