The following statement shows the condition of the appropriations for the preceding two fiscal years at the close of business June 30, Total.. 200, 540.00 196, 765.80 4.00 3, 770.20 255, 780.00 246, 353.79 2,024. 52 7, 401.69 Respectfully, To Hon. CHARLES NAGEL, S. W. STRATTON, Director. Secretary of Commerce and Labor. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, BUREAU OF FISHERIES, Washington, December 26, 1911. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911. PROPAGATION OF FISHES. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE WORK. The fish-cultural operations of the Bureau, consisting of the propagation and distribution of fishes for public and private waters in the interior sections of the country and of the lobster and important marine fishes to replenish the waters along the north Atlantic seaboard did not vary materially from those of preceding years. The efforts were directed chiefly toward the development of present resources and the increase of the output by the extension of operations over a wider territory in fields contiguous to existing stations. The possibilities for fish-cultural work are practically unlimited, being gauged only by the funds and experienced men available for opening up new fields. This is particularly true with reference to the Pacific coast salmons, the trouts of the Rocky Mountain region, the commercial fishes of the Great Lakes, and the anadromous and marine species of the Atlantic coast. With the basses, sunfishes, and catfishes, whose eggs can not be handled artificially and which are propagated under natural conditions in ponds, a more thorough understanding of the requirements of food supply and environment has carried this work also beyond the experimental stage and to equal possibilities of cultivation. One new station was added to the service with the completion of the plant at Homer, Minn., where fish-cultural work was inaugurated at the beginning of the year. The stations operated numbered in all 36 permanent and 90 auxiliary and collecting stations, located in 33 States. At these stations upward of 40 species of food and game fishes were handled. Fish-cultural operations at the various stations are governed largely by meteorological conditions; floods, droughts, storms, and abnormal water temperatures in the spawning season hamper the work and necessarily cause variations in the egg collections from year to year, regardless of carefully executed plans. While adverse weather curtailed the egg-take of important species in some sections, substantial gains were made in other fields, and the outcome of the year's work was the largest output of fish and eggs in the history of the Bureau, the total being 3,646,294,535, or 12.83 per cent greater than in 1910. This favorable showing is largely accounted for by the adoption of new methods and the utilization of improved appliances, resulting in increased efficiency and diminished expense. The year's distributions of fish to public and private waters involved railroad travel approximating 100,915 miles by the Bureau's cars and 319,819 miles by detached messengers. The amount of free transportation allowed was a little over one-sixth of the number of miles traveled. The following table summarizes the distribution of fish and eggs for the year: SUMMARIZED STATEMENT OF DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND EGGS, FISCAL YEAR 1911. Of these distributions 550,470,414 eggs, 1,029,800 fry, and 1,060 larger fish were delivered to various State fish commissions, and 86,000 eggs, 6,000,000 fry, and 2,050 older fish were furnished for shipment to foreign countries. These transactions are shown in detail in the accompanying statements. |