REPORT 
OF THE 
COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
Department of Commerce and Labor, 
Bureau of Fisheries, 
Washington , December 6 , 1909. 
Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the opera- 
tions of the Bureau of Fisheries for the fiscal year ended June 30, 
1909. 
PROPAGATION OF FOOD FISHES. 
EXTENT OF THE WORK. 
In its important work of stocking* the public waters wdth food 
fishes, and of furnishing food and game fishes for private streams, 
lakes, and ponds, the Bureau has followed established methods that 
have had for their main object the largest results at the minimum 
cost. The magnitude of the operations necessitates close scrutiny of 
the details of the expenditures, and it is noteworthy that in the fiscal 
year 1909 the volume of the fish-cultural work was much larger than 
ever before, while the available appropriations were not increased. 
In other words, notwithstanding that labor and materials cost more 
than formerly, the Government has expended less money in order to 
produce and plant a definite number of food fishes. This result has 
been achieved by greater efficiency and zeal on the part of employees 
and by extension of the fields of operation. 
The fish hatcheries operated in 1909 numbered 35 and the sub- 
hatcheries, auxiliaries, and egg-collecting stations numbered 84 ; these 
were located in 32 States and Territories. The regular hatcheries 
may be classified as follows with reference to the fisheries propa- 
gated : Marine species, 3 ; river fishes of eastern seaboard, 5 ; fishes of 
the Pacific coast, 5 ; fishes of the Great Lakes, 7 ; fishes of the interior 
regions, 15. 
In the following table the output of the hatcheries is summarized 
by species. From the aggregate figures given it will be seen that a 
new record has been made in the Bureau’s fish-cultural work, the 
total output of 3,107,131,911 fish and eggs being 235,675,000 more 
than in 1908, the best previous year. 
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