Measurement of Fish Eggs.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 192, 19 February 1887, Page 2

Measurement of Fish Eggs.

In the current number of "The Angler," Seth Green discourses as follows on the measurement of fish eggn in quantities. How few people realise how many spawn of fish a million is. We are accustomed to read of this or that hatchery taming out so many millions of wbitefish, shad, salmon, or speckled trout, as the ca*e may be, with but little thought of how many a true million actually is. In conversation with an acquaintance some days ago, while speaking, of the number of millions of spawn we had laid down in the Caledonia hatchery, I was asked how many bushels of spawn I supposed we had, and if I knew how many epawn it took to make a bushel. I replied that I had never thought of the matter in that light, but aa it would be quite interesting to know, I would ascertain. Accordingly I have had a few estimates made with some of the different varieties of spawn we have at the hatchery. We began with tbo salmon trout, the spawn of which were obtained from Lake Huron. I mention this fact, ac the eize of the spawn obtained from the fish caught n the ( different lakes differs slightly ; as, for instance, those taken from the Lake Ontario salmon-trout are a trifle smaller than the Lake Huron trout eggs. We counted a quart, extra measure, and found they would run 6,000 to the quart, and, taking this as a basis, there would be 192,000 to the bushel, which would make just 5 5-24bu8hel8 of spawn to the million. The young fry when hatched out would require 200 12-gallon cans to move them, suppoeiag that 5,000 were placed in a can, which is about all that can be transported any distance safely in a can of that size. Brook or speckled trout, the spawn of which are con? siderably smaller, are found to meaeura 11,700 to the quart, or 374,400 epawn to the bushel, or 2,167-134 bushels to the million, When hatched it requirod 167 cans of the above named capacity to transport them, figuring at 6,000 to the can, Whitefish eggs I ha/c estimated, at 34,400 to the quart, and at this rate there would be 1,100,800 in a bushel. Shad eggs are about tho eaine b'ze as the whitefieh, and I should estimate them at about the same. As 10,000 young fry of either the whitefieh or sha d is about all that can be safely transported in a 12 or 13gallon can, it would require 110 cane to carry 1,000,000 of either of theae kind.