The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-26
WORK or Trsu COMMISSION.
Millions of Eggs and Fry Distributed
 ThrOuGhOmt the Country.

!
 Washington, June 25-The work of the fish commission is practically com | pleted for this year. According to the | officials of the commission when the re- ports are sent in July they will show | that it has been the most successful year | in the history of the commission. The | great bulk of the work has been In the collection and distribution of the eggs and fry of commercial food fish and this year more cod, white fish, pike. perch, bass, flat fish and lobster have been
 planted than ever before Fully as
 many shad have been planted this year
 as last, when the high water mark in shad propagation was reached. The great commercial value of the work done by the fish commission can best be illustrated in the case of shad. The
 catch of shad in 1885 was five million.
 The systematic collection of eggs and
 distribution of shad fry since that year
 have increased the catch annually until
 this year it reached 13,000,000, an in-
 crease of 50 per cent. in fourteen years.
 At the same time the cost of shad has
 been decreased to the consumer more
 than 30 per cent. The value of the catch
 this year was upwards of $200000.
 This result has been obtained by the
 commission with a total expenditure of
 $42000. So successful was the experi-
 ment made several years ago for the in-
 troduction of shad and striped bass on
 the Pacific coast that the planting of
 those fish foods on that coast has been
 csJ1cyN 1SI TLn ,t1o oh I~C pi
 flc now ranges between one and two mill
 lion annually. The total cost of intro-
 ducing the shad into Pacific waters was
 but $5,000 So plentiful have the striped
 bass become in the Pacific coast streams
 since their introduction that they can
 be purchased in the markets of the coast
 cheaper than in the eastern markets.
 When they were first introduced they
 brought one dollar a pound
 The work at the California stations
 this year has been confined to the pro- pagation of the commercial salmon and the sock eye and steel bead trouts. Over 40,000000 eggs have been distributed from these stations. From the five Ore gon stations on the Columbia river 20,- 000000 fry have been planted in the Pas cific coast streams. The new station at Backers Lake, Washington, established for the propagation of blue-back and silver salmon will begin operations July l. In the Rocky Mountain region there are stations in Montana, Colorado and South Dakota for the propagation of eastern brook trout or black spotted trout. From these stations 60,000 fry were distributed in the streams of Colo rado Washington, Idaho. Montana, South Dakota New Mexico, Arizona and Indian Territory. From the middle state stations in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Texas for the propagation of brook and rainbow trout, black blass and crappie, 100000 fry of all kinds were distributed in stocking private ponds and streams and some public waters. From the stations on the Great Lakes where the white fish. lake trout, herring, pike. perch and wall-eyed pike are col lected 75O. 000 eggs of all kinds were taken and O0OOO, 900 fry planted. At the shad stations at Bullockville, Ga, Bryans Point, Va, Havre De Grace, and Gloucestre in the Delaware. 300,0O0O00 shad eggs were collected and 23OOOO0OO fry planted in all the important streams from Florida to Massachusetts. There are stations in Virginia and Tennessee for the propagation of black bass and trout, but these have done little this year.
 Tn Massachusetts there are two of the largest marine fish culture stations in the world At these cod, pollock, fiat fish (f1ounder) and lobster are propagat- ed Over 30000O,000 cod eggs were col lected here and between 150 and 200 mill lions fry distributed. Over 40,0000OO flat | fish were planted. The lobster season has not yet closed. Over 00000,OOO eggs have already been taken and it is ex- pected that 800, 100000 will be taken be- fore the close of the season.