8 
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
The output of lake trout and pike perch was larger than ever before. 
An important factor in the collection of lake-trout eggs was the 
cooperation of fishermen operating gasoline boats, who took the eggs 
and delivered them free of charge to the Bureau’s agents. F avorable 
weather and the active cooperation of Pennsylvania and Ohio con- 
duced to the unusually large output of pike perch. 
The drought seriously affected the collection of salmon eggs in the 
Pacific States. The run of chinook salmon in the Sacramento River 
appeared to be as large as usual, and the catch of fish for commercial 
purposes w T as good, but owing to low water the fish could not reach 
their accustomed spawning grounds in the McCloud River and in 
consequence deposited their eggs below the place where the Bureau 
had constructed racks for their interception. When the heavy rains 
finally came, the rack in the McCloud was broken, and three men who 
were working on the rack throughout the night to keep it free from 
leaves and other debris were thrown into the raging torrent and 
miraculously saved from drowning. It is estimated that the fish that 
had congregated below the rack would have yielded 8,000,000 eggs. 
The output of chinook salmon was much less than in 1908, as was also 
that of silver salmon and humpback salmon ; but a record was estab- 
lished for the blueback, sockeye, or red salmon, owing to the suc- 
cessful opening of the new hatchery at Afognak (Alaska), whose 
initial output was over 39,000,000 fish. An experiment with the 
sockeye which may lead to an important outcome was made on Puget 
Sound. Five hundred fish caught in traps at Point Roberts and 
donated to the Bureau by one of the fishing companies were towed in 
a live-car to an adjacent creek and held for the ripening of their eggs. 
Sufficient eggs were collected to warrant the belief that it will be 
possible to propagate large numbers of this most valuable species by 
impounding in fresh water salmon caught in the commercial fishing. 
With regard to the cultivation of the fishes of the interior waters, 
it may be noted that the season showed a marked increase in the 
output of catfish, blackspotted trout, and landlocked salmon, the 
work with the last-named species establishing a record as a result 
of improved methods at Grand Lake Stream. The production of 
brook trout from the eggs of wild fish fell off in both New England 
and Colorado as the result of drought, and, as in previous years, the 
demands for this fish could be met only by the purchase of large num- 
bers of eggs from private hatcheries. There were no material changes 
in the distribution of the various other fishes that are regularly 
handled. 
Species whose cultivation was undertaken for the first time in 
1909 are the smelt, the white bass, and the yellow bass. The smelt 
( Osmerus mordax) is one of the most popular food fishes of the 
