march, 1968 - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

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y SHYRL HOOD WALLEYE PRODUCTION- Assistant Fisheries Chief, Warmwater Production BUSY SEASON! SPRINGTIME IS A BUSY TIME for Pennsylvania Fish Commission hatcheries throughout the state and the Linesville Hatchery in Northwestern Pennsylvania's Crawford County is no exception. This headquarters for warmwater species production becomes a hub of activity as the ice goes off and the time arrives for collecting walleye eggs for another year's production. Due to the prohibitive cost and impracticality of maintaining walleye brood stock, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission takes its brood stock from a wild population in the 2,500-acre Pymatuning Waterfowl Sanctuary, an area not open to sport fishing. Nets are set as soon as the ice goes off, usually between March 20 and April 5 to capture the needed brood fish. Nets are set on gravel and sand bars, preferably in water 5 to 7 feet deep, with the opening facing shoreward and the lead extending to shore when possible. As catches are made records of each daily production are kept. Initially catches contain a high percentage of males with relatively few ripe females. Then, as the water temperature rises, the proportion of females increases until EMPTYING A TRAP NET—the crib of the net is taken aboard the bow of the barge, the fish transferred into the tank and then taken immediately to the hatchery. a peak in the number of ripe females is reached. This peak period of ripe females coincides with a water temperature in the mid-40's and usually lasts a week or ten days. In the meantime males become less abundant. Nets are checked daily and all adult walleye are transported in tanks to the hatchery building where they are separated into males, ripe females, and green females with each category being placed in separate tanks. Green females are checked daily and usually ripen within three days. In the meantime ripe females are spawned as soon as sorting is completed and before they can loose a large number of eggs. A large female may produce as many as 400,000 eggs, however the number varies with the size of the fish. Usually 25,000 to 40,000 eggs are produced for each pound of fish. Preparing for the artificial spawning, hatchery personnel place males and ripe females into separate tanks containing an anesthetic of methyl pentynol. Once completely anesthetized—about two minutes at the concentrations used —they are rinsed in clean water and spawning begins. Three men usually help during the process. One expresses the eggs into a wet basin and simultaneously the sperm from two males is added to insure fertilization. After spawning, a small amount of water is poured into ElllllilllHIII 1
the basin and the sperm and eggs are gently agitated for two minutes. The fertilized eggs are then poured into a twenty gallon wooden keg half full of water. Ten quarts of eggs is considered maximum for each keg. The eggs and water are gently stirred with a turkey feather for one hour as the water is changed frequently to remove excess sperm, egg shells, ovariam material, and other foreign matter. After an hour the eggs are thoroughly washed and by then have water hardened to such an extent that they can be placed into a wooden tub (a siphon adds a constant flow of fresh water to the tub). The eggs are stirred every ten minutes to prevent them from adhering to one another and possibly forming clumps. MR. SHYRL HOOD, assistant chief, division of fisheries, explains to a group of youngsters the method used in spawning walleyes aided by the use of anesthetics. Hundreds of scheduled and non-scheduled groups visit the Linesville Hatchery totaling approximately 250,000 yearly. Five hours later the eggs are considered completely water hardened and, by now, will have doubled in size. They are then placed in hatching jars after being strained through a one-eighth inch screen to remove any clumped eggs or any other material that might interfere with proper rolling in the hatching jars. Two quarts of eggs are placed in each jar in a 72 jar battery. Approximately one gallon of water per minute enters the jar from the bottom through a vertical glass tube in the center of the jar. Flow is regulated to insure a continuous gentle rolling of all the eggs. Screen inserts are placed at the top of each jar to prevent eggs from washing away with the outflow. Water for the hatching comes from Pymatuning Lake, MARCH —1 968 continued on page 26 DAILY CHECK of trap nets in Pymatuning Sanctuary. Twelve nets are usually set at ice out in the spring and continued until June. Early in this period brood walleye—and muskellunge— are captured for spawning and approximately 25,000 pounds of panfish are salvaged and stocked in public fishing waters throughout Pennsylvania. SORTING and counting the catch as it comes in from the lake. The brood fish are transferred to the hatching building for spawning. RECORD KEEPING in connection with tagging programs. Data such as species, size, date, and location are recorded for future use. 15
Page 1 and 2: NNSYLVANIA MARCH, 1968 ceA
Page 3 and 4: CALIFORNIA FAN Gentlemen, One of my
Page 5 and 6: LEAKY BOOTS continued from page 1 T
Page 7 and 8: HERE'S a dandy for the pan. SPRING
Page 9 and 10: More Pennsylvania women follow "fat
Page 11 and 12: were geared with 75 or 100 horsepow
Page 13 and 14: OIL BOOM days found wooden derrick
Page 15: MM\ . ^fi r^f ~ f. ^*"Z T
Page 19 and 20: THE TRAIN used for stocking Muddy C
Page 21 and 22: BOATING with ROBERT G. MILLER DIREC
Page 23 and 24: Anna had a mark under one eye after
Page 25 and 26: continued front page 7 When I first
Page 27 and 28: the spot because the fish were biti
Page 29 and 30: FALSE SALMON EGG FEAST? by Courtney
Page 31 and 32: "FISHING FATHER" HONORED BY HOUSE T
Page 33 and 34: ANN MICHELE proves the girls can ca
Page 35 and 36: CATCH A TROPHY FISH AND RECEIVE A P

march, 1968 - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

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