San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-01-25
FISH PROPAGATION.
Increased Importance OF Work Be-
ing Done by the Government.
Annual Report OF the Commissioners of
Fish and Fisheries Shows Largo
Increase In the Number of Eggs
Collected and Fry Planted.

The annual report to the president OF
John j. Brice, commissioner of fish and
fisheries, indicates how important the
work of his Office has become. No less
than As, 000,o 900 shad eggs were collected,
and from these 100000 fry were
planted in streams emptying into the
Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The increase in shad eggs collected was
30,000,000 over the previous year, and
if a bill now before congress is enacted
into law auxiliary stations will be es-
tablished on most of the important
rivers of the Atlantic coast and result
in an immense increase in the output of
this species.
The output of lobster fry was 97,OOO,-
coo, against 100000 for the previous
year, and Commissioner Brice says there
is little doubt that the output in an
other year will be increased more than
100 per cent. While the attempt to
keep up the acknowledgements sup
ply of mackerel along the New Eng
land coast was more or less experiment
al, 24,000,0o0 eggs were collected.
Thrty-one million taut of clam eggs
were collected in Buzzard's bay and H.
100000 fry were liberated from them.
According to the report, great in
cpeaSes in the results at a large saving
of expenses were accomplished with ref
erence to the salmon Matching on the
Pacific coast. Temporary stations were
established on the Salmon and Little
White Salmon rivers, both tributaries
of the Columbia, TO be operated in con-
nection with the permanent station at
Clackamas, Ore. While the cost of eggs
per thousand at the Clackamas station
had been $1.S1, they were obtained as
low as A cents per thousand at the
Salmon river auxiliary and at the rate
of IL cents per thousand at the Battle
Creek auxiliary station. The total take
of 100000 salmon eggs amounted to
three times as many us were ever COL
lected before in the United States in any
one season.
1t is proposed to extend over the en-
tire country permanent and econom-
ical system Of maintaining the CONNER
cial fisheries by grouping about the CEN
trail hatcheries auxiliary egg-collecting
stations, to be operated only during the
spawning season. Another effort will
be made to introduce Pacific salmon in
eastern waters. To accomplish this
100000 eggs will be transferred from
the California stations to stations III
New York, Vermont and Maine, and the
fry liberated in the Penobscot, Kenne
bee, Merrimac, Hudson, Delaware and
SuSquehanna rivers. Attention has also
been paid to increasing the output OF
Atlantic and land-locked salmon at the
Maine stations, and indications point 10
a large increase over previous years.
Lake trout eggs collected will aggTc-
gate Is, OOO, 900 or 90 900, 900. The cod work
will surpass all previous seasons, and
100000 eggs are expected. Eastern
oysters and Holsters were planted in
California and Oregon waters in Octo-
Der and diamond-backed terrapin in
San Francisco bay. Eggs of the steel
head trout, California game fish, have
been planted in streams tributary to
Lakes Superior and Huron and the
Penobscot river.