Fish hatching and fish catching

Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching Fish hatching and fish catching

FISH HATCHIITG

SH 34.R78

Fish hatching and fish catching

3 1924 003 244 633

Cornell University Library

There are no known copyright restrictions in

the United States on the use ofthe text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003244633

FISH HATCHING,

R BARNWELL ROOSEVELT,

Commissioner ofFisheries ofthe State ofNew York, Author of

Game Fish, etc., etc

FISH HATCHIJSTG.

INTRODUCTION.

During thefew years which have intervened since the

been so far ascertained and applied that it is now an

established art, capable of yielding vast results for the

benefitofmankind Thedaysofdoubt and uncertainty

invariably to thesame end have establishedit on a firm

basis. For a time cautions persons, even- when most

enthusiastic could not help questioning in their own

minds what thefinal outcome would be, and whetherall

realized, but success in all well considered and properly

enter-prisewould have remainedso long undiscovered or

stepscould beand wereaccurately noted, and the bleincrease and profit obtained leftbut one conclusion

incredi-No

all their writings, acts and utterances, but they feel at

the claims of fish culture,provided it be conducted asintelligentlyand wisely asother departments of modern

human labor.

asexactand exacting as any other, nor that it has itslimitsand must be managed with care and notslurred

overor slighted. To theignorant andindiflferent it willyield no more than the cultivation oftheland and possi-

circum-stance and manipulation,this work isintended to show.Thisismeant fora practicalbookona practical subject,in

public, and thebare facts with plain directions shall be

forth. Withthatview noattemptwillbemadeatgraceofdiction, and scientific names, formulas and information

direc-tions asthey aredepressed in others, and while one manwill try toraise the best offish from theworst ofwaters,

most favorable opportunities It is the function ofthis book to correct these mistakes and prevent.theseblunders

The extended fiomonespecies to another until we have a fairideaofwhat

certain point tread with assuredtootsteps Atfirst theonly species treatedby theartificialnjethod was the sal-

process was applied to trout, then to' shad and

after-ward to whitefish, lake-trout, herring,perch, bass, stripedbass, sturgeon and many others with more or less suc-cess. Thegreatest promisefor purely artificial manipu-

lation is with the salmon, the trout, the lake-troutandtheshad, but the close study of thehabitsof othervarie-

fa-miliarized the fishculturists with thenecesitiesof their

fish-cul-ture has grown up in whichthe natural processis

andmoneyexpended, approachthosereached through the

morescientific and intricate management of the higher

classes of fish. All these processes will beconsidered,

safely saythat the authors ofthis book have had a

control, the most important inventions and

practically engagedin fish culture since its introduction

have studied,

in all itsdepartments: havetested alltheories

in the New York state hatching house the largestandmostefficient establishment in the world for producing

actualresults, andfor separating fact from error. As a

they areresolved to makethis book trustworthy if it is

offish culture, and give some suggestions of universalapplication Ithasbeensaidthat anacreot water would

atter it hasonce been planted,and thatit is harvestedby

worked and cultivated with assiduous laborof man and

beast, and finally when at last successfully harvested and

elements, it yields buta meagre advance upon the cost

theland andneglect the water, theone has been reduced

to private ownership and constitutes a large part of dividual wealth, while the other is a sort of common

yieldwhat it maywithoutcaretotheJew chance persons

who makea livingbutofit. Ifourwheatcropisdamaged

mournsover a national calamity Butthesupply of our

may be inprocess of utter annihilation,andyetno voice

is raised,andwesitbywithfoldedhandsin idleness. The

yields itsfree willoiiering without an effort on ourpart

We have tilled the ground fourthousand years, we have

justbegunto till the water

Kindsof Water and Fish-Fecunditt-Cold-Blooded

be utilized bystocking thesewaters bysuitablevarieties.

amount of flesh than is required by birds or

quad-rupeds The amountwhich willmakeapoundofpoultry

or beef, will make many poundsoffish ; this is owing to

thefact that they are cold blooded and usually inactive

torpid in their habits. Animal action consumes the

this vital heat As fish are cold-blooded, they need

goes to makebulk and weight The fact this class

isfamiliar to all. Thereisbut littlewaste of their

their cages, the latterare almost motionless, ilnless

clear andfresh, it hasin itbutlittlefood

It maybe true that apoundoffishdoes not contain as

production For some purposes of health it is much

careand labor are neededto raise fish than to raiseother

animals, or evento raise vegetables Wemust givecloseattention toourfiocksandherdsthroughoutthe year, and

like fieldspreparedforseed Fish onlyneed our helpin

By artificial meansat a trifiing cost nearly all the eggs

While on this analogy, itmaybesuggested that

piscicultute asin agriculture In a portion of France,

alter-nated, the latter being the most profitable, but this is

only the germ of the true principle When one sort

of root or grain or vegetable is repeated on"the sameland, it is found that the soil is exhausted of its food,

onelocality. They use up their food and increase the

listof their foes. So soon as this happens they sufier,

on difterentfood, and having a totally different class of

been surprising, thenew species increasing enormously

forthefirst few years, and then meeting the fate of itspredecessors It isa curious fact that the stomachs offish are so often found to be entirely empty of food,

that they digest very rapidly, or can ,'go a long time

deduc-tionsare true. Heatand motion are the main consura

ers ot food, for animal bodies are physically machines,

gen-erated, and will wear outwith friction unless the waste

is restored A man or a horse can only perform his

amountof food unless he works The terrestrial

their natural state, getting their food by the chase,

makinglong journeys, are ordinarily quiet.

established: First—Fish culture, extending to every sirable variety of fish is entirely practicable Second

de-—

of land, or of land animals, and on similar conditions

and most and healthful food

pres-ervation of thefishofthe country fromtotaldestruction.Fifth—Every sectionof our country, and all its creeks,rivers,lakes and seacoasts are available for this, care

climate, temperature andquality of the water Sixth

—

Itmay be carriedon by stockingwaters with youngfish

eggsforhatching,and both eggs andyoung fish maybe

money capital required for these operations is small,skill, care, patience, perseverence and common sense,the same asin anyothei' business, being thechief requi-sites. Eighth—Individual enterprise is alone sufficient for success, though State action is desirable; indeed,legislation is essential, if not to foster at least to protectthose engaged in the business of fish culture

CHAPTER I.

culture to its origin, nor settle the disputed claims ofindividualsor nations,to its discovery Thattheold stag-nant, almond-eyednation of the East may have known

phe-nomenais notto bedoubted; butthe knowledge was of

practice consisted mainly in transporting from placetoplace, certainvarieties of fish-eggs,-which had the pecul-

iarity ofsticking to whatever they touched afteremissionfromtheparent These were caught ontwigs, sticks, and

used to stockwaterswhich had been depopulated This

settinghens

The children of Confucius, thousands ofyears ago, inthisas in manyother investigations,commenced groping

^but before thev had passed intothetwilight of the

the fabled seven sleepers,have stood onthe semblanceof

asnow practiced amongcivilizednations Two

French-men, called Kemy and G6hin, havingobserved that the

slightest pressure, and comprehended what important

results might be obtained by taking advantage of thispeculiarity

Itwas some yearsafterthese discoveries in FrancethatAmerica commenced to takean interest inthis subject,

Manydifferent Stateshaveconflictingrights in thesamewaters Kiversrising under onejurisdiction, frequently

diver-and

to be fatal to anyattemptat fishculture which required

known American salmon rivers of the Atlantic coast

risesamidthe wild,ruggedhijlls on the confinesofMaine

sportthelargestbrook trout ofAmerica Concentrating

carry important commerce, it empties into LongIsland

interestsoftheestuary fishingat its mouth, once valuable

net fisheries forsalmon, and still productive of shad; inthese the State of Connecticut is deeply concerned

Above these are the dams at Holyoke, fatal to all

migra-tory fish,amongwhicharetobe counted both thesalmonand shad, butwhich havecontributedmuch tothewealth

millions of loomsand spindles Farther north, the

food totheirverydoors While still further to-the ward thelumbermen must be consulted as to whateffectthe introduction of salmon and shad culture will have

north-on their rafts andrafting dams

more

culture, and more valuable discoveries in implements

America are the finest in the world for food and sport,

the fish culturist. Probably the most valuable variety

themost easily manipulated, its eggs hatch in the est time, its fry require no care after birth,and being

travelsfarinland, in itsperiodic visitsto theland We

immenseinland seasof fresh water For the lakes, the

Bass, Shad and Salmon; for still and deep streams, the

coarse fish ; for the swift mountain stream, the Trout,

Gold Fish, a good coarse pan fish, can be grown in

all our rivers and bays Beyond doubt, with very

little care and expense these fish can be made toabound in our waters But forsome kindsthis requiresgovernment aid, since individuals owning parts of

and special legislation seemsto be required to get passesconstructed over the numerous dams in our rivers

Butif with comparativelylittlecare and expense our

great riverscan be stocked, in the meanwhile there is

or spring, or clear running stream If these men knew how easily they could turn this water to profit, notonly by raising food for themselves, but a supply forthe city and village market, there would soon be very

can see ata glance

Fish cultureisnot a mattereither wholly of public or

privateinterest, in part it isone,in partthe other Thegreat lakes, the immense rivers, the long lineof ocean

coast can only be restocked by governmental aid and

byprivate effort,and for the special benefit of their

vidual purposes The shadyields thelargestamount of

and possesses asa subject of sport a still higher value.Whereneither shad nor trout can live some varietyofthe fresh water bass will answer for private orpublic

waters, and the pike perch, (wall-eyed pike) is

thefacilities forraising salmon may supply his family

The number and kinds of fish that are treated are

efforts to carp We began onsalmon Then the effort

whitefish,tostripedbass, tosturgeon,tosmelt, tograylingand indirectly toblack bass,strawberrybass,oswegobass,

pike perch, yellow perch, catfish, oysters, lobsters, gold

fish, and otherfreshwaterfishes,and we mayconfidently

nearly allthefishes that liveon ourcoast orin our lakes

and rivers. Notayearpasses butsome newandvaluable

fish culture increases with every development Already

Commis-sion forthe entire TTnion The systems followedin the

offeredfor ripefish, which are secured and keptalive by

individuals inanypart ofthecountry,and informationof

the fact issent to the authorities at Hueninguen, who

the living fry being distributed again at government

profit than there shouldbe. Thereisdangerofdepleting

ofbreeding, no shad, whitefish or salmon trout are used,

commis-sion we can say no fish are killed purposely to obtain

their eggs, and no streams can possiblyhave been pleted by the action of the commission

us, andgreat strides have been made in developing the

art. Ourfirst great discovery was what isknownas dry

a secrethowever,fromthepublicuntil itwas

re-discover-ed in Kussia Hereitwasfirstpracticed in 1864,and up

to that time twenty-five per cent, of the eggs was the

greatest number impregnated; immediately afterwards

univer-sally adopted The next great discovery in appliances

seem-ingly trivial but extremelyimportant discovery was the

application of coal tar asa coating to wood work and all

articles that comeincontact withthe eggs,and on which

whitefish, but which is avaluable convenience m

andcertainty ot success.

de-sire to communicate with the commissioners ofone or

UNITED STATES.

Prof. SpencerF Baird \Smithsonian Institute,

'^

( Washington, D.C.DOMINION OF CANADA

AlfredA Reed, Jr Providence.

NEW YORK

Robert B Roosevelt NewYorkCity.

MICHIGAN

Charles S G Doster, Montgomery.

CALIFORNIA.

S R.Throckmorton SanFrancisco.

ARKANSAS

N. H.Fish Pine Bluffs.

KENTUCKY

P. H Darsey, Caldwall County.PolkLafFom, Hopkins County.

John A Steele, Woodford County.

UTAHTERRITOY.

'A.P Rockwood SaltLakeCity.

WEST VIRGINIA.

JohnW.Harris, Louisberg.

CHAPTER n

GENEEAL CON8IDBEATION8

trout; but at piesent the only rivers which can be said

and California Theformer are pretty efiectually closed

with damsand nets, andin thelatter, fish cultureisjust

eliouldbe the headingofthis article, or should take

management of the salmon first, as its treatment was

first discovered,and itsmanipulationisthe most

compli-cated. Under theheadof Salmon,may be included the

trout, thewhitefish, the grayling, thefresh-waterherring

orCisco, and California brooktrout, and the California

the differences beingso inconsiderable thatthey maybe

individ-ualities asmay benecessary

excep-tion oftheCaliforniasalmon,whichis earlier,andspawns

in summer and first of autumn, the grayling, a fish ofthe same race, which has latelybeen found to exist in

our country,and which spawns in March, and thefornia Brooktrout which spawnsin March andApril

the cold weather,as soon asthe ice breaks up,and keeps

onallsummerlongrunningupintothe freshwater;which

alone,is adapted to thefructificationof his eggs Trout

in like manner,passfrom the ponds and deeplakes intothe cooler streams, where a constant supplyoffresh and

lively water can beobtained; whitefish appearfrom the

shore, select'gravellyandrockyreefs andspringyspotstolay theireggs

Salmon and troutmakenests, the females digging out

themud andfinersandfrom the gravelwhich they

sufficiently advanced, the malewhohas been chosen by what Darwin curiouslystyles" natural selection," that is,

a most bitter battle against all comers for the ladyin

"orange silk or silver lawn," whofalls a prize tothe

strongest, joins his bride Theysimultaneouslyandwith

num-ber of these are extruded at a single impulse, and are

then carefully covered over with gravel by the female,

intruders of his own sex, who would usurphis

prerog-atives and devouringsuch strayeggsasmayhaveescaped

the noticeof his devoted wife, and been carried down

spawn ofthis classoffish is,that themoment it fallsfrom

her ventral finsand tail for that purpose It remains

loose andis swept away by the current,a dainty morsel

It isalso to be observed thatthe eggs are heavyand sink

spawnofthesalmonidae, and distinguishing them from

cover-ed up in this way till often quite a moundof fish eggs

tofill a two bushel basket The operation of emitting

the eggs is not all done atone time oron one day, it

hereafter. As soon as the nest is completed, and tligfatherand 'mother areexhausted ofspawn and milt, they

carried out.

A similar over supply or wastefulness of nature is

\isible in all itsdepartments Seeds of plants and trees

only a few to frnctify. Of these few even, buta small

noticed the itmumcrable seeds falling from the trees inearly autumn, has not seen them driven about by the

water, crowded into holes and covered up by leaves.

Nextyearout ofthe countless multitudes,somehundreds

start into life, but they are by theway side or on stony

plants The sun burns some, the shade kills others, the

.share, arid so theyperish miserably, the exception being

ifa singleonesurvives We can partly guess why thissuperfluity exists, we can connect itin a measure with

inch-eslong and no thicker than afineknitting needle; they

eel will destroy an unlimitednumber oftroutfryoreggs.Ducksareequally destructive, thrusting their long billsdown intothenests ofspawn, or seizing and swallowingthe young ; frogs, mice, rats, fish, many birds, and

darning-needles, and otherwaterfliesbefore they havedeveloped

into the perfect insects do theirshare of damage Most

Unpromising as all this is,however, for agoodcrop of

trout in the natural way, it is only the beginning ofthe'trouble Thedanger of disease or physical injury is al-wayspresent Heavyrainscomeandfoulthewater; whenthis settles the silt orsedimentcovers the wholebatch of

eggs,andsmothers thelifeout of them Confervamakes

kill-ing all ittouches,and seems tobecontagious, as a single

dead egg will affect all those which are near it till the infection spreads through the entire heap

Amid such vicissitudesthe wonderis not that so manyperish but that any survive, and the need of na-ture'ssuperfluityis thus mademanifest Exposedto all

theirnaturaldefencelessness for from twotofivemonths,

water probably washingaway themiltofthemalebefore

says that in digging up some spawn of the California

in the McOloud river, he found only eight per cent, vitalized.

Whenthe littleembryo ot piscatorylife has manfully

still by no meansthroughhistroubles In thefirst place, hisphysical conformation is much against him ; he is

represents a certain numberof dinners for the future

he is awkwardand hampered in his movements, an easy

he strives to hidehimself during this period; he crawlsinto holesand under stones, and often hides so" effect-ually that when he has been artificially hatched his

made andfree fromworm holes. But in this, his hour

by him fromfirst to last. At that stage of his

master, a very great despair by comparison with hisfeebleness Cruelly is the superiority exercised, for

The

-daceous insects are alsoon the alert doubly gratified athis increased size, and epidemics attack him more

they all have full-scope and free exercise Is it

stepsin to help along the ruinous process He has no

delicateof color as the finest tints of the artist's brush,

upsets the equipoise of nature, which up to that time

liv-ingcreatures atan established relative proportion For

larger drafts asthe humanrace increases and extending

ratio theydecrease more rapidly, and the operation

absolutely denuded and left sterile, bare and

unpro-ductive The insects have devoured the lastedible fish

lakes, rivers andstreams throughout the older^states, at

least,yield nothing of foodfor man

Sucha result is no trivial injury to the community

State of New Tork alone 647 lakes, with an area of

of river and stream Fully a quarter of a million ofacres of the public patrimonyare thus allowed to go to

little care. It would havebeen easy to have protectedthem; it is a far more serious matter to restore theirancient productiveness

The sea fisheries are scarcely better off. Professor

"diminution" isthe present point on which Professor

clear ; and so greatlyand rapidly hasthis occurred, thatfishing stations which in 1860 produced thousands of

fish, now furnish only hundreds, or at that ratio, giving

Before leavingthis branch of our subject,it iswell to

sectipns ofthe country

theirjoung, but as they are not necessarily migratory,they often dwell where salmon cannot Trout require a

trout arefound, and then again not till you come to the

RockyMountains Troutandsalmon, exceptinthematter

either may be hatched in thesame boxes, with the same

air, would put their mouths to a knot-holeto breathe.

Ifthere are springs enough, trout willliveinwaters the

seventy-five. So also, a strong rush ofwateraswith a cataract

orrapids, willenablethemtoenduregreaterheat than they

of the eastern salmon or trout family to apermanent

and die the first, at leastwhen they are confined in alimited space with asmall flow ofwater

Thefirst pointin fish cultureis toobtain thespawning

fishin proper'condition, for ifthe eggsare notmatureorripe, asit is usuallycalled,not onlyare they useless, but

the efibrt to extract them will kill the parent Fish

andthere are manyin this country,keep onhand in

suit-able,ponds a supply oflargefish. These aretakenfromthe rivers which they are ascendingto spawn, and are

in which theyare confined, isa race way,or"long narrow

made as attractive anesting spot to the fish as possible.

mouth of theraceand frightening themin, selectssuch

When ina perfectly ripe condition, theeggs lie free in

the ovaries in the abdomen, and may be extruded by a

in contactwith themiltfrom the ma]es,»for thefish male

receptacle Formerly, the practice obtained of having

thisbasin fullofwater,underthe idea thatsuch

arrange-ment more nearly reproduced thenatural conditions,but

The ova are fertilized by the|spermatozoa of the milt

It was ascertained however, in practice, that these

veryactivewhenfirstemitted,soon perishedinthe water

among theovain acomparatively dry state, and this is

themethod universallypursued at present The result

where-as now,fully ninetyeight per cent, are made capable of

willbemorefollyexplained hereafterwhen we come tospecial and particular directions for each part of the

process

course, otherswerenever properly impregnated, but the

in fivehundred,certainly notone in ahundred survives

plan,and at the lowestcalculation, fully ninety in every

gainin fish culture It is in theprimary stages thatthe

alike and still seethe enormous difterence in its favor.

Allow thatyoungfish after their birth are in continued

all that are born peiish before attaining a marketable

condition In onecase thai halfhasto be taken from a

numberis to be drawn upon Often thousand eggs posited in the natural method, only twenty or thirtyhatch, one-half of thesewould give us but ten orfifteen

de-fullgrown salmon, whereas with the care of man nine

difference sogreat as to be almostincredible, yet theseresults areobtained with reasonablecertainty by trainedfish culturistswho understandtheir business

CHAPTERIII.

TROUT PONDS.

raise -a,few trout anywherein temperate latitudes. But

to raise a largenumberrequires care in the selection oi

alocation. Plentyof purespring wateris thefirst andmost essential requisite. The spring, or one of the

springs, ifthere are several,shouldhave a falloftwo orthreefeet,and a fall offiveto ten feet of the whole vol-

fall. Thewaterfrom a spring remains (near its source)

andis the best for Trout raising. The water from a

insummer, may be used tosupplypondsforadultTrout

purposes It is nota goodplantodamup a stream which

varies in volume, and somake ponds There should be

enough level land by the side ofsuch a stream to make

ofwater, and there will be no trouble with the surplus

best location It is desirable to have your ponds near

Laying OptPonds.— The diagram represents a series

conven-ient forchanging the fish from onepond to another It

line. Where thelocation demandsit they may be

turn-ed so as tolie in adirection nearly or quite parallel withone another This iseasily done by bendingtherace-

straight. Thesides oftheponds maybe walled up with

stones,laid without mortar,unless thesoil isvery sandy

are inclined to think is not worth its expense If the

sides of the ponds are laid up with mortar,let itdry

as well totest itby puttinginonly a few fish atfirst ; if

Pondsshould not be built where much

sur-face drainage willran into them; if they are so exposed

the surface water should be carriedoffby a ditch around

an additional supply of water The reason for this will

further explanation If the supplyofwater is small, it

Shape of.Ponds.— Where the supply of water islarge it matters verylittle about the shape of the ponds

in the plate; such a shapecombining an equable flowof

sur-face, with the leastdifference in the temperature of thewater If the nature of the ground demands other

shapes, the ponds should be made long, narrow and

deep, ratherthan broad andshallow The depth of the

pond isindicated in the plate, and will answer for any

a large numberof fish, to have several series of ponds,

more

Raceways — TheSecond and Third ponds shouldhave

along, narrow raceway where the water enters—about

thirty or forty feetlong, four feet wide and six inches

and a half inch plank, one foot in width This will

spawn-ing, butasa resort for thefish at allseasons of the year

Fish will go into this shallow graveled race, intothe

para-sites whichoften troublethem; or they will go thereif

race-way

after If a series of ponds are made, then the screens

separate waterfrom a stream, then much attention must

down stream

Wild Raceway —If the ponds are connected with a

this way a great many trout ^ill be taken in a ripecondition that would otherwise spawn in some other

those that arethus captured