Outside of the Klamath River, Lake Tahoe, Bear Lake in San Bernardino County, and Plumas County stations, eggs can be procured from properly equipped ponds for less money than they can be from wild fish when the uncertainty of collecting eggs from wild fish is considered. The droughts, floods, deep snow and extremely cold weather conditions always make the egg-collecting work uncertain. We do not know from one season to another what to expect. During seasons of extremely light rain and snowfall, conditions prevail that are unfavorable for the collection of trout eggs. Other years floods and extremely high and cold water change the movements of the fish and the take of eggs is often far less than we expect. Breaking up of runs of trout in our streams by high dams built by hydro-electric companies and irrigation projects are all having their effect and, to meet these new conditions, the legislature should provide ample funds for the construction of rearing ponds where a sufficient number of breeding fish can be raised to supply the demand for at least two-thirds of the waters to be stocked.

Salmon, rainbow trout, and steelhead trout can be saved to the people for many years to come by the proper development of the Klamath River and the saving of this stream as a fish refuge. If this stream is lost to the public as an egg-collecting stream by the construction of high dams in the lower reaches of the river, it will mean a great loss to the general public. The expense of maintaining pond systems is costly and locations are hard to find where perfect conditions can be found for the rearing of a sufficient number of brood fish, particularly of the rainbow and steelhead species. The development of hydro-electric energy by the erection of high dams in the tributary streams of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers has materially reduced the number of salmon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Monterey Bay regions. Practically all the salmon now to be found in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins and Monterey Bay region are the product of hatcheries at Battle Creek, Mill Creek and Klamath River stations. The number of salmon fry produced in the Klamath River stations has assisted greatly in keeping up the supply in the Sacramento River.

The larger portion of the salmon in the Klamath River are the Sacramento race of king salmon that were introduced into the Klamath River by the Fish and Game Commission in its salmon cultural operations during the years past. The native Klamath River salmon do not appear in any great numbers in the river in the last few years. Our fishcultural experts at the Klamathon station support the view that the large majority of the fish taken from the Klamath River at the Klamathon egg-collecting station are of the Sacramento race.

If the Klamath River is set aside as a fish refuge, by increasing the number of fry planted in this stream, a larger number of rainbow and steelhead eggs will be collected; and, as it is the only river of any consequence left in this state in which there is a run of king salmon to handle for artificial propagation, it is of great importance that this stream be saved as a fish refuge so that the state at all times may have, not only an adequate supply of salmon eggs to keep up the supply of salmon in the Sacramento River and Monterey Bay regions, but also furnish a large percentage of our rainbow and steelhead trout eggs

for distribution throughout the entire State of California. The construction of the proposed high dams in the lower reaches of the Klamath River will break up the run of these anadromous fishes so that the egg-collecting work on this river will soon be a thing of the past.

During the last two seasons, the experimental work on the South Fork of Eel River near Branscomb, where several traps were located and temporary egg-collecting stations established in an effort to collect a large number of steelhead trout eggs and sufficient number of salmon eggs to stock Eel River, has proved futile as the uncertainty of the flow of water in Eel River, caused by extremely low water in periods when the fish should be running, or great floods, has proved that the upper reaches of the South Fork of Eel River where our experiments have been carried on is not a suitable place to attempt to collect eggs of either salmon or steelhead trout. The lower reaches of Eel River are subject to such extreme conditions of water from the minimum to the maximum flow that it is not dependable. The lower reaches of the South Fork of Eel River, near Garberville, or in the vicinity of Lane's Redwood Park, probably would be a suitable site for the collection of steelhead trout eggs; but, until practical experiments have been made in attempting to collect these eggs, no positive statement can be made whether this work can be carried on successfully in Eel River or any of its tributaries, except the Cape Horn dam on the South Eel River, which is now badly affected by the water being held back by the Gravelly Valley Dam during the season of drought, thus preventing the fish from ascending this fork of the river to the egg-collecting station located on Cape Horn dam. During the season just past, the dam did

not fill so as to spill over and, consequently, no fish reached the eggcollecting station this year, thus depriving us of several millions of steelhead eggs. A lease was obtained on Gravelly Valley dam from the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company, the owners of this project, with the intention, if conditions proved suitable, of having this lake set aside as a preserve from which a large number of rainbow might be raised for the purpose of collecting their eggs to stock the streams of the immediate vicinity as well as have a supply to be shipped out to other stations. But protests from the citizens of Lake County, and the refusal of the Forestry Service to grant the Commission a lease on the lands bordering on Lake Pillsbury or Gravelly Valley dam, have prevented this department from carrying out its plans. The citizens of Lake County protested on the grounds that the dam was of greater benefit to them as a fishing resort to the public than for an egg-collecting preserve for the Fish and Game Commission. As they are drawing off the water each season for power purposes and the water in this lake fluctuates to such a great extent, it is somewhat doubtful whether the lake would furnish anywhere near the number of eggs that we formerly collected in the river immediately below the dam before its construction; that is, the Snow Mountain egg-collecting station located at the lower dam owned by this company.

If these protests against our experimenting on this lake are removed, several years will have to elapse before it can be determined how many eggs the brood fish in this lake would produce. The number of eggs that may be collected from fish raised in dams that have fluctuating heads, is always uncertain; and it becomes more apparent, as we look over the great State of California for suitable places where spawnfish may be obtained, that the Klamath River, the last stream in California that has not been seriously affected by the construction of high dams, should be left to furnish a sufficient number of eggs of rainbow and steelhead to supply the needs of the state in other waters, as well as to provide king salmon eggs to maintain a greater portion of the run in the Sacramento River and Monterey Bay regions; and that adequate pond systems should be constructed for the rearing of our introduced species of fish, such as Loch Leven, European brown trout and Eastern brook trout.

As the fight to prevent the construction of high dams in the Klamath River by the residents of Siskiyou County, sportsmen's organizations and our Commission, has not yet been decided, since the matter is pending before the Federal Power Commission and in the courts of the state, as well as being submitted by an initiative petition to the voters of the state so that they may express their opinion, we can not add anything more to the argument submitted in our last biennial report, but will publish excerpts from the same report so that the matter may be brought before the minds of the people of the value of the Klamath River as a fish refuge.

We reiterate that the great Klamath River should be kept free from dams so that a stock of trout and salmon can be depended upon from that source for many years to come. The Klamath River runs through a mountainous region from the Oregon line, where it enters California, to its mouth on the boundary line of Del Norte County and Humboldt County, where it flows into the ocean.

There is practically no tillable land where the waters of this stream could be used for irrigation. All the small areas of tillable land along this river could be irrigated by tributary streams. Applications have been made to construct large dams on this river for the purpose of developing hydro-electric energy. As there is enough water appropriated in the other river systems of California to furnish electric power for the development of the state for many years to come without destroying the salmon and other anadromous fishes of the Klamath River by the construction of dams impassable by these fish, the construction of high dams in the Klamath River should not be permitted. We feel positive, from our investigations and knowledge of the habits of the salmon, that the king salmon (Oncorhynchus tchawytscha) and the silver salmon (0. kisutch) will not ascend a fishway over a dam where the elevation is over thirty or thirty-five feet. Our experience in this state, and the experience of the experts of the Bureau of Fisheries and fishculturists in Oregon and Washington, confirm this statement.

There is a great protest being made by the people of Oregon and the Bureau of Fisheries against the construction of a dam ninety feet in height across Priest Rapids on the Columbia River, which confirms our opinion stronger than ever, that where the people have a stream of such value as the Columbia or Klamath rivers, no high dams should ever be allowed to be constructed if the fishing interests are to be considered. The people are entitled to at least one stream in each state from which they can collect an adequate supply of both salmon and trout eggs to supply the depleted waters of other regions.

The statement made that the Fish and Game Commission is retarding the industrial growth and development of the state by opposing these high dams is, in our judgment, not a fact, as there is sufficient energy being developed in other streams of California, where it is possible to construct power plants, to furnish the entire northwestern part of the state without embarrassing the development of that region or any other portion of California.

FISH PROPAGATION.

Applicants, without exception, are reporting fine results from previous plantings of fry and are continuing making applications from year to year, thus keeping the streams as well stocked as the conditions will permit where the fishing is so excessive as it has been for the last few years. The zeal and enthusiasm shown by the applicants who, year after year make applications to stock their favorite streams and lakes, is evidence of the intense interest in the fishcultural work in this state. The growing interest in the propagation and planting of trout fry is the result of good returns that we are producing by the cooperation of the persons planting fish for the Fish and Game Commission.

The distribution of trout fry by the sportsmen's clubs, boards of supervisors, and other interested parties, continues with the same enthusiasm as in former years. The public spirited citizens in the different communities have devoted their energy and furnished their labor in seeing that the trout fry are properly distributed. Each season we find better results of this cooperation as the persons interested in trout planting become more familiar with the proper distribution of the fry.

Some sportsmen's clubs, assisted by the supervisors of the counties, have established resting pools at the end of the auto roads where the fry are deposited and given a few days' rest before being carried by pack animal to the more inaccessible lakes and streams in the higher altitudes. The Fresno County Sportsman's Club and the Madera Rod and Gun Club have built a number of these resting pools in the mountainous districts where they are making their distribution of fry and have obtained excellent results. This is very commendable work as it gives the fry a chance to recuperate before continuing the long journey to the lakes and streams that are not accessible by trucks or wagons and have to be reached by pack animals. These resting pools are of great benefit if the fry are not held in them too long. A great many persons have advocated the holding of trout fry until late in the fall in ponds and nurseries along the streams where they desire to have the fish distributed, believing that if the trout fry are held until they are a larger size than when received from the hatcheries, better results could be obtained. Our experience has led us to believe that this is not a fact; and when trout are confined in ponds or nurseries they generally become large, fat and domesticated, lose their wild instinct of natural preservation that they have when first taken from the hatchery and a greater number of them will be destroyed by natural enemies, if held until late in the fall or the following spring, than if liberated as soon as they are swimming up and in condition to plant directly from the hatchery.

There are probably some places where larger trout might be of benefit when planted than those taken from the hatchery, but these places are very remote and in general trout planting, our experience has demonstrated to us, the sooner the trout fry are planted, the better the results.

TROUT DISTRIBUTION.

The total distribution of trout fry from the different hatcheries in the state for the biennial period 1922-1924 was 56,527,105, consisting of the following species:

On the date this report is being written, July, 1924, we have approximately 28,000,000 trout fry that will be distributed as a result of this season's operations.

SALMON.

To maintain even a fair supply of chinook, or king, salmon in the Sacramento River, Klamath River and Monterey Bay regions, as well as Eel River and ocean areas fed by this stream, becomes a greater problem each year. With the cutting off of natural spawning grounds by high dams in the tributaries of the Sacramento River and the depletion of Eel River by the excessive fishing of a few years ago, the