E-text prepared by Ronald Calvin Huber while serving as Penobscot Bay
Watch, Rockland, Maine, with technical assistance from Joseph E.
Loewenstein, M.D.
NEW ENGLAND SALMON HATCHERIES AND SALMON FISHERIES
IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
CONTENTS
ARTICLE
I. Some Results of the Artificial Propagation of Maine and
California Salmon in New England and Canada, Recorded in
the Years 1879 and 1880
II. Sketch of the Penobscot Salmon-Breeding Establishment (1883)
III. Penning of Salmon in Order to Secure Their Eggs (1884)
IV. Memoranda Relative to Inclosures for the Confinement of Salmon
Drawn from Experience at Bucksport, Penobscot River, Maine
(1884)
V. Report on the Schoodic Salmon Work of 1884-85
VI. Methods Employed at Craig Brook Station in Rearing Young
Salmonid Fishes (1893)
VII. Notes on the Capture of Atlantic Salmon at Sea and in the
Coast Waters of the Eastern States (1894)
ARTICLE I
SOME RESULTS OF THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF MAINE AND CALIFORNIA
SALMON IN NEW ENGLAND AND CANADA, RECORDED IN THE YEARS 1879 AND 1880
Compiled By The United States Fish Commissioner
_Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission_, Vol. 1, Page 270, 1881.
New Bedford, Mass May 20, 1879.
Prof. S. F. BAIRD:
Sir: I have just been in the fish market and a crew were bringing in
their fish from one of the "traps." A noticeable and peculiar feature
of the fishery this year is the great numbers of young salmon caught,
especially at the Vineyard, although some few are caught daily at
Sconticut Neck (mouth of our river). There are apparently two different
ages of them. Mostly about 2 pounds in weight (about as long as a large
mackerel) and about one-half as many weighing from 6 to 8 pounds;
occasionally one larger. One last week weighed 33 pounds and one 18
pounds. The fishermen think they are the young of those with which some
of our rivers have been stocked, as nothing of the kind has occurred in
past years at all like this.
JOHN H. THOMSON.
* * * * * *
_Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission_, Vol. 1, Page 271, 1881
New Bedford, Mass. June 1, 1879.
Prof SPENCER F. BAIRD:
SIR: I received yours. I have examined carefully since your letter, but
no salmon have been taken. The run was about the two first weeks in May
and a few the last of April. Mr. Bassett had about 30 to 35 from the
trap at Menimpsha, and 10 or 12 from Sconticut Neck, the mouth of our
river. Mr. Bartlett, at his fish market, had about one dozen; 12 from
the traps near the mouth of Slocum's River, six miles west of here, and
I have heard of two taken at mouth of Westport River.
As to the particular species, I do not get any reliable information, as
so few of our fishermen know anything about salmon, and in fact the men
from the traps on Sconticut Neck did not know what the fish were.
JOHN H. THOMSON.
* * * * * *
FISHING ITEMS. "A ten-pound salmon and seventeen tautog, weighing over
one hundred pounds, were taken from the weirs of Magnolia, Thursday
night. This is the first salmon caught off Cape Ann for over thirty
years. On Saturday morning three more large salmon were taken and 150
large mackerel. The fishermen are highly elated at the prospect of
salmon catching." (Cape Ann Advertiser, June 6, 1879.)
* * * * * *
[Postscript to a letter from Monroe A. Green, New York State Fishery
Commission, to Fred Mather, June 9, 1879.]
"P. S.--Kennebec salmon caught to-day in the Hudson River at Bath near
Albany weighing twelve and a half pounds, sold for 40 cents per pound.
The first that have been caught for years."
* * * * * *
STATE OF MAINE, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,
Bangor, August 25, 1879. [Extracts.]
DEAR PROFESSOR: We have had a great run of salmon this year, and
consisting largely of fish planted by us in the Penobscot four or five
years ago, so far as we could judge; there were a very large number,
running from 9 to 12 pounds. The east and west branches of the Penobscot
report a great many fish in the river. On the Mattawamkeag where we
put in 250,000 and upwards, in 1875 and 1876, a great many salmon
are reported trying to get over the lower dam at Gordon's Falls,
13 feet high. These fish were put in at Bancroft, Eaton and Kingman, on
the European and North American Railroad. The dam at Kingham is 13 feet;
at Slewgundy, 14 feet; at Gordon's Falls, 13 feet and yet a salmon has
been hooked on a trout fly at Bancroft and salmon are seen in the river
at Kingman, and between the dams at Slewgundy and Gordon's Falls. The
dealers in our city have retailed this season 50 tons Penobscot salmon,
and about 3 tons Saint John salmon; it all sells as Penobscot salmon.
Saint John salmon costs here, duty and all included, about 14 cents per
pound. Our first salmon sells at $1 per pound, and so on down to 12 1/2
cents the last of the season.'
Salmon at Bucksport has sold to dealers here at 8 cents. Two tons taken
at Bucksport and Orland in 24 hours. Average price at retail here for
whole season, 25 cents.
Truly, yours,
E. M. Stillwell.
* * * * * *
STATE OF MAINE, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,
Bangor, October 4, 1879.
DEAR PROFESSOR: My delay in replying to your kind letter has been from
no want of courtesy, but a desire to send you the required "data" you
asked. Neither myself nor Mr. Atkins have been able to procure them. The
weir fishermen keep no records at all, and it is difficult to obtain
from them anything reliable; while the fishermen above tidewater are a
bad set of confirmed poachers, whose only occupation is hunting and
fishing both in and out of season. They are always jealous and loth to
let us know how good a thing they make of it, for fear of us and fear of
competition from their own class.
Four or five years since I put in some 300,000 salmon fry into the
Mattawamkeag at Bancroft, Eaton, Kingsmore, and at Mattawamkeag village.
There are three dams between Mattawamkeag and Bancroft--none less than
12 feet high. About six weeks since Mr. Nathaniel Sweat, a railroad
conductor on the European and North American Railroad, while fishing for
trout from a pier above the railroad bridge at Bancroft, hooked a large
salmon and lost his line and flies. Salmon in great numbers have been
continually jumping below the first dam, which is called "Gordon's
Falls."
My colleague, Everett Smith, of Portland, a civil engineer, while making
a survey for a fishway, counted 15 salmon jumping in 30 minutes. A Mr.
Bailey, who is foreman of the repair shop at Mattawamkeag walked up to
the falls some three weeks since entirely out of curiosity excited by
the rumors of the sight, and counted 60 salmon jumping in about an hour,
within half or three-quarters of a mile of the falls. This is on the
Mattawamkeag, which is a great tributary of the Penobscot.
On the east branch of the Penobscot there has been a great run of
salmon. An explorer on the Wassattaquoik reported the pools literally
black with salmon. A party of poachers, hearing the rumor, went in from
the town of Hodgon and killed 25. I inclose you a letter to me from Mr.
Prentiss, one of our most wealthy and prominent merchants, which speaks
for itself: I will be obliged to you if you will return this, as I shall
have occasion to use it in my report.
On the West branch of the Penobscot I hear reports of large numbers of
salmon, but the breaking of the two great dams at Chesancook and the
North Twin Dam, which holds back the great magazine of water of the
great tributary lakes which feed the Penobscot, which is used to drive
the logs cut in the winter, through the summer's drought, has let up all
the fish which hitherto were held back until the opening of the gates to
let the logs through. These fish would not, of course, be seen, as they
would silently make their way up.
I regret that I have nothing of more value to give you. Hoping that this
small contribution may at least cheer you as it has me,
I remain, truly, yours,
E. M. STILWELL, Commissioner of Fisheries for State of Maine.
* * * * * *
Prof. SPENCER F. BAIRD,
United States Commissioner Fish and Fisheries.
BANGOR, October 3, 1879.
M. STILWELL, Esq.,
DEAR SIR: Prof. C. E. Hamlin of Harvard, and I made a trip to Mount
Katahdin last month for scientific examination and survey of the
mountain. I had been salmon fishing in July on the Grand Bonaventure, on
Bay of Chaleur, and I could not see why we could not catch salmon on the
east branch of the Penobscot at the Hunt place where we crossed it on
our way in to Katahdin. I thought the pool from mouth of Wassatiquoik to
the Hunt place, about a half-mile, must be an excellent salmon pool, and
my guide and the people there confirmed this opinion. They said over a
hundred salmon had been taken in that one pool this season. The nearest
settlement, and only one on the whole east branch, is about six miles
out from there, and the young men go on Sundays and fish with
drift-nets. No regular fishing for market--only a backwoods local supply
can be used. These fish were about of one size--say 8 to 11 pounds.
There were never enough fish here before to make it worth while for them
to drift for them. A few years ago no salmon were caught there at all.
Twenty-two years ago, before our fish laws were enacted, the farmer at
the Hunt place used to have a net that went entirely across the river
clear to the bottom, which he kept all the time stretched across, and he
only used to get two or three salmon a week. I was there August, 1857,
with Mr. Joseph Carr, an old salmon fisher, and we fished for ten days
and could not get a rise. The net had been taken up, because the farmer
did not get fish enough to pay for looking after it.
But the stocking the river makes it good fishing and I intend to try the
east branch next season with the fly.
Very truly,
HENRY M. PRENTISS.
* * * * * *
October 13, 1879
East Windsor Hill, Conn.
Professor BAIRD:
DEAR SIR: It may be of interest to you to know that your salmon are not
all lost. Last Friday, 10th, I was with a party of three fishing in
Snipsic Lake, and one of our party caught a salmon that weighed 1 3/4
pounds. This is the second one taken since the pond was stocked as I was
told. The other was caught this summer and weighed 12 ounces.
Cannot something be done to save our fish in Connecticut River? There is
an establishment at Holyoke, Mass., and another at Windsor Locks, Conn.,
that are manufacturing logs into paper, and I am told that the chemicals
used for that purpose are let off into the river twice a day, and that
the fish for half a mile come up as though they had been cockled.
Both of these factories are at the foot of falls where the fish collect
and stop in great numbers and are all killed. Our shores and sand-bars
are literally lined with dead fish. Three salmon have been found among
them within two miles of my office. They were judged to weigh 12, 20 and
25 pounds. The dead fish are so numerous that eagles are here after
them. I have received nine that have been shot here in the past two
seasons.
I have written you in order that the fish commissioners might stop this
nuisance and save the fish that they have taken so much pains to
propagate.
Truly yours,
Wm Hood, East Windsor Hill, Conn., October 13, 1879
* * * * * *
SAINT STEPHEN, March 1, 1880.
Prof. SPENCER F. BAIRD
U. S. Commissioner Fish and Fisheries:
Dear Sir: I send you remarks in relation to the Restigouche and Saint
Croix Rivers, which, though crude, I am sure are quite correct, as they
are either taken from the official statistics, or are facts of which I
am myself cognizant. You may, if of use, publish any part of them.
I very much wish we could procure some young shad for the Saint Croix;
this fish was once very abundant, and perhaps would be again if
introduced. I know you have been very successful in restocking the
Connecticut. Our old people deplore the loss of the shad--say it was a
much better food-fish than the salmon. I do a great deal of shooting,
and am much interested in ornithology, and specimens of our birds that
you might want I should be happy to lookout for; do a good deal of coast
shooting winters; have been hopefully looking for a Labrador duck for a
number of seasons--fear they have totally disappeared.
I have nice spring-water conducted to my house and think of doing a
little fish-hatching in a small way. The amount of water I can spare is
a stream of about half inch diameter; the force will be considerable, as
the water rises to top of my house, some 50 feet above where I should
set trays. I write to you to ask what hatching apparatus would be best
to get, where to buy, and probable cost. I am trying to get some
sea-trout ova to hatch in it. I presume all your California ova have
been disposed of ere this.
FRANK TODD.
* * * * * *
SAINT STEPHEN, March 1, 1880.
Prof SPENCER F. BAIRD, U. S. Commissioner Fish and Fisheries:
SIR: In regard to the Saint Croix, would say, that it was once one of
the most prolific salmon rivers in New Brunswick, but owing to the
erection of impassable dams, fifteen or twenty years ago, this valuable
fish had almost entirely disappeared. At about this time fishways were
placed in all the dams, and gradually salmon began to increase, but the
first great stimulus was given some ten years ago by the distribution of
some hundreds of thousands of young salmon in the headwaters, by the
fishery commissioners of Maine.
The Dobsis Club also placed in the Saint Croix some 200,000 or more from
their hatchery, a portion being the California salmon. With these
exceptions our river has had no artificial aid, but for the last five
years the number of salmon has largely increased, due mainly, no doubt,
to the deposits before mentioned.
The fish ways are generally in good condition (although some
improvements will be made), and fish have easy access to headwaters,
That large numbers go up and spawn is evidenced by the large numbers of
smolt seen at the head of tidal water in the spring, many being taken by
boys with the rod. I have reason to expect that our government will
hereafter distribute annually in the Saint Croix a goodly number of
young salmon which, together with the contributions of the Maine
commissioners will soon make this fish again abundant. Alewives are very
abundant and apparently increasing every year. Shad that were once
plenty have entirely disappeared. I very much wish that the river could
be stocked with this valuable fish; possibly you could kindly assist us
in this.
Landlocked salmon (here so called) are, I think, nearly or quite as
plenty at Grand Lake Stream as they were ten years ago; this, I think,
is almost entirely due to the hatchery under the charge of Mr. Atkins;
the tannery at the head of the stream having entirely destroyed their
natural spawning beds, the deposit of hair and other refuse being in
some places inches deep. The twenty-five per cent. of all fish hatched,
which are honestly returned to our river, is, I think, each year more
than we would get by the natural process, under present circumstances,
in ten years.
FRANK TODD.
* * * * * *
SAINT STEPHEN, N. B., DOMINION OF CANADA.
Prof. SPENCER F. BAIRD, U. S. Commissioner Fish and Fisheries:
SIR: I think it has been clearly demonstrated in this Dominion that by
artificial propagation and a fair amount of protection, all natural
salmon rivers may be kept thoroughly stocked with this fish, and rivers
that have been depleted, through any cause, brought back to their former
excellence.
I would instance the river Restigouche in support of the above
statement.
This river, which empties into the Bay of Chaleur, is now, and always
has been, the foremost salmon river in New Brunswick, both as to size
and number of fish. It has not a dam or obstruction to the free passage
of fish from its mouth to its source, yet up to 1868 and 1869 the
numbers of salmon had constantly decreased. This, no doubt, was
occasioned by excessive netting at the mouth, and spearing the fish
during the summer in the pools; natural production was not able to keep
up with this waste.
In the year 1868 the number of salmon was so small that the total catch
by anglers was only 20 salmon, and the commercial yield only 37,000
pounds. At about this date, the first salmon hatchery of the Dominion
was built upon this river and a better system of protection inaugurated;
every year since some hundreds of thousands of young salmon have been
hatched and placed in these waters, and the result has been, that in
1878 one angler alone (out of hundreds that were fishing the river)
in sixteen days killed by his own rod eighty salmon, seventy-five of
which averaged over twenty-six pounds each; while at the same time the
numbers that were being taken by the net fishermen below, for commercial
purposes, were beyond precedent, amounting in that one division alone
(not counting local and home consumption) to the enormous weight of
500,000 pounds, and the cash receipts for salmon in Restigouche County
that year amounted to more than $40,000, besides which some $5,000 was
expended by anglers; this result was almost entirely brought about by
artificial propagation. A new hatchery of size sufficient to produce
five million young fish annually will no doubt soon be erected by the
Dominion Government upon this river.
A somewhat similar record might be given of the river Saguenay. Some
years ago anglers and net fishers of this river said it was useless to
lease from the department, as the scarcity of salmon was such as not to
warrant the outlay. A hatchery was built, and this state of things is
now wonderfully changed; so much so, indeed, that in 1878 salmon, from
the great numbers which were taken at the tidal fisheries, became a drug
in the market, selling often as low as three cents per pound, and
angling in the tributaries was most excellent.
Some one hundred million young salmon have been artificially hatched and
distributed in the waters of the Dominion during the last few years, and
new government hatcheries are constantly being erected.
Yours, &c.,
FRANK TODD, Fishery Overseer, Saint Croix District.
ARTICLE II
SKETCH OF THE PENOBSCOT SALMON-BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT
by
Charles G. Atkins
Written by request of Prof. S. F. Baird, for the London Exhibition,
1883
_Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission_, Vol. 3, Page 373, 1883
The rivers of the United States tributary to the Atlantic, north of the
Hudson, were, in their natural state, the resorts of the migratory
salmon, _Salmo salar_, and most of them continued to support important
fisheries for this species down to recent times. The occupation of the
country by Europeans introduced a new set of antagonistic forces which
began even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to operate
against the natural increase and maintenance of the salmon and other
migratory fishes.
In many localities the closing of smaller streams by dams, and the
pursuit of the fish with nets and other implements, had already begun
to tell on their number; but it was not until the present century that
the industrial activities of the country began to seize upon the water
power of the larger rivers and to interrupt in them by lofty dams the
ascent of salmon to their principal spawning grounds. These forces were
rapid in their operations, aided as they were by a greatly augmented
demand for food from a rapidly increasing population.
In 1865 the salmon fisheries were extinct in all but five or six of the
thirty rivers known to have been originally inhabited by them. In many
of these rivers the last salmon had been taken, and in others the
occurrence of individual specimens was extremely rare. Among the
exhausted rivers may be mentioned the Connecticut, 380 miles long; the
Merrimack,180 miles long; the Saco,120 miles long; the Androscoggin,
220 miles long; and some twenty smaller rivers. There still survived
salmon fisheries in the following rivers, namely, the Penobscot, the
Kennebec, the Denny's, the East Machias, the Saint Croix, and the
Aroostook, a tributary of the Saint John. The most productive of these
was the Penobscot, yielding 5,000 to 10,000 salmon yearly. The Kennebec
occasionally yielded 1,200 in a year, but generally much less. The
other rivers were still less productive.
The movement for the re-establishment of these fisheries originated in
action of the legislature of New Hampshire, seconded by that of the
neighboring state of Massachusetts, having in view primarily the
fisheries of the Merrimack and Connecticut Rivers. The course of the
Merrimack lies wholly within the states of New Hampshire and
Massachusetts; that of the Connecticut lies partly in the state of
Connecticut, and many of its tributaries are in the state of Vermont.
These two states were therefore early interested in the project, and
their action soon led to similar exertions on the part of Rhode Island
and Maine. Within the borders of the six states mentioned, collectively
known as "New England," are all of the rivers of the United States
known to have been frequented by the sea-going _Salmo salar_, with the
possible exception of certain rivers, tributary to the Saint Lawrence,
in the northern part of New York.
The governments of these states having appointed boards of
commissioners to whom was confided the task of restocking the exhausted
rivers, other states, one after another, adopted like measures, and in
1872 the United States Government established a commission to inquire
into the condition and needs of the fisheries in general, with
authority to take steps for the propagation of food fishes.
The New England commissioners turned their attention at once to the two
most important of their migratory fishes, the salmon and the shad. The
utter extermination of salmon from most of their rivers compelled them
to consider the best mode of introducing them from abroad.
Agents were sent to the rivers of Canada, where for several years they
were permitted to take salmon from their spawning beds, and some
hundreds of thousands of salmon eggs were thus obtained and hatched
with a measure of success. After a few seasons permits for such
operations were discontinued, and the only foreign source of supply
thereafter remaining open to the states was found in the breeding
establishments under control of the Canadian Government, and even these
were practically closed by the high price at which the eggs were
valued.
In 1870 it had become clear that to a continuation of efforts it was
essential that a new supply of salmon ova should be discovered.
Attention was now directed to the Penobscot River in the state of
Maine, which, though very unproductive compared with Canadian rivers,
might yet, perhaps, be made to yield the requisite quantity of spawn.
A preliminary examination of the river brought out the following facts:
The Penobscot is about 225 miles in length. The upper half of its
course and nearly all of its principal tributaries lie in an
uninhabited wilderness, and in this district are the breeding grounds
of the salmon. The fisheries, however, are all on the lower part of the
river and in the estuary into which it empties, Penobscot Bay. There
was no means of knowing how great a proportion of the salmon entering
this river succeeded in passing safely the traps and nets set to
intercept them, but supposing half of them to escape capture there
would still be but about 6,000 fish of both sexes scattered through the
hundreds of miles of rivers and streams forming the headwaters of the
Penobscot.
It was very doubtful whether they would be congregated about any one
spot in sufficient numbers to supply a breeding station, and it would
be impracticable to occupy any widely extended part of the river, on
account of the difficulties of communication. At the mouth of the
river, on the other hand, the supply of adult salmon could be found
with certainty, but they must be obtained from the ordinary salmon
fisheries in June and held in durance until October or November, and
the possibility of confining them without interfering seriously with
the normal action of their reproductive functions was not yet
established. The latter plan was finally adopted, and in 1871 the first
attempt at this method of breeding salmon was instituted by the
commissioners' of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The site fixed
upon for an inclosure was at Craig's Pond Brook in the town of Orland,
and arrangements for a supply of fish were made with two fishermen of
Verona at the very mouth of the river. The salmon first brought were
confined in a newly constructed artificial pond in the brook, which was
of such remarkable purity that a small coin could be distinctly seen at
the depth of 7 feet. All of these died except a few which after a short
stay were removed to other quarters. The most prominent symptom was the
appearance of a white fungoid growth in patches upon the exterior of
the fish. In a lake (locally designated as Craig's Pond) of equal
purity, but greater depth, several of these diseased fish recovered.
Of the salmon later obtained some were placed in an inclosure of nets
in the edge of a natural pond with but 7 feet of water, of average
purity, some in a shallow inclosure in a brook, and some turned loose
in a natural lake of some 60 acres area, with muddy bottom and
peat-colored water. In each case the salmon passed the summer with few
losses, arrived at the breeding season in perfect health, and yielded
at the proper time their normal amount of healthy spawn and milt,
though the great sacrifice of breeding fish by the early experiments of
the season reduced the crop of eggs to the small number of 72,000.
The conditions of success were thus sufficiently indicated, and in 1872
the same parties, joined with the United States Commission of
Fisheries, renewed operations on a larger scale, locating their
headquarters at the village of Bucksport, confining the breeding salmon
in Spofford's Pond (Salmon Pond on the general map of Penobscot
station), and establishing their hatchery on the brook formed by its
overflow. This is the lake of 60 acres in which, as mentioned above, a
few salmon had been successfully confined the year before.
Though not at all such water as would be chosen by a salmon at large,
it nevertheless proved well adapted to the purpose of an inclosure for
the breeding fish. It was shallow, its greatest depth, at the season of
highest water, being but 10 feet; at its upper end it abuts against an
extensive swamp, and almost its entire bottom, except close to the
shore, is composed of a deposit of soft, brown, peaty mud of unknown
depth. The water is strongly colored with peaty solutions, has a muddy
flavor, and under the rays of a summer sun becomes warmed to 70°
(Fahrenheit) at the very bottom.* Yet in such a forbidding place as
this, salmon passed the summer in perfect health. There were some
losses, but every reason to believe them all to have been caused by
injuries received prior to their inclosure.
* During the month of August, 1872, the bottom temperature at 1 p.m.
was never below 70°, and on six days was found to be 71°.
During and after the hottest term of each summer (the month of August)
very few died.
The supply of salmon was obtained mainly, as in 1871, from the weirs in
the southern part of Verona. They were placed in cars, specially
fitted for the purpose; and towed to Bucksport on the flood tide. From
the river to the inclosure they were hauled on drays in wooden tanks 3
feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep, half a dozen at once. From the
weirs to the boats and from the boats to the tanks they were dipped in
great canvas bags. From all this handling but few losses ensued.
In the establishment at Bucksport village the work was carried on for
four years, from 1872 to 1876, with a fair degree of success. Then
ensued a suspension till 1879, when the reappearance of salmon in the
Merrimack, Connecticut, and some other rivers renewed the hopes of
final success, and encouraged the commissioners to reopen the station.
It had, however, been found that the old location had serious defects.
The inclosure was costly to maintain, and the recapture of the fish
involved a great deal of labor and trouble. The water supplied to the
hatchery was liable in seasons of little rain to be totally unfit,
causing a premature weakening of the shell and very serious losses in
transportation. After a careful search through the neighboring country
it was found that the most promising site for an inclosure was in Dead
Brook, near the village of Orland (though within the limits of the town
of Bucksport), and for a hatchery no location was equal to Craigs Pond
Brook, the spot where the original experiments were tried in 1871. The
only serious drawback was the separation of the two by a distance of
some 2 miles, which could not offset the positive advantage of the
hatchery site. Accordingly the necessary leases were negotiated, an
inclosure made in Dead Brook, and a stock of breeding salmon placed
therein in June, 1879. Since then the work has been continued without
interruption.
It is still found most convenient to obtain the stock of breeding
salmon, as in the early years of the enterprise, from about a dozen
weirs in the Penobscot River along the shores of the island of Verona.
The fishermen are provided with dip-nets or bags with which to capture
the fish in their weirs, with tanks or cars in which to transport them
to the collecting headquarters, whither they are brought immediately
after capturing, about low water.
The collection is in the hands of a fisherman of experience, who
receives the salmon as they are brought in, counts and examines them,
adjudges their weight, and dispatches them in cars to the inclosure at
Dead Brook. The cars are made out of the common fishing boats of the
district, called dories, by providing them with grated openings, to
allow of a free circulation of water in transit, and covering them with
netting above to prevent the fish from escaping over the sides. The car
is ballasted so that it will be mostly submerged. Ten to fifteen salmon
are placed in a single car, and from one to four cars are taken in tow
by a boat with two to four oarsmen.
From the collecting headquarters to Orland village, a distance of about
5 miles, the route is in brackish water, and the tow is favored by the
flood tide. At Orland is a dam which is surmounted by means of a lock,
and thence, two miles further to Dead Brook, the route is through the
tide less fresh water of Narramissic River. The sudden change from salt
to fresh water does not appear to trouble the fish except when the
weather is very hot and the fresh water is much the warmest. The cars
are towed directly into the inclosure, where the fish are at once
liberated.
The inclosure is formed by placing two substantial barriers of woodwork
across the stream 2,200 feet apart. The lower barrier is provided with
gates which swing open to admit boats. Within the inclosure the water
is from 3 to 8 feet deep, the current very gentle, the bottom partly
muddy, partly gravelly, supporting a dense growth of aquatic
vegetation. The brook has two clean lakes at its source, and its water
is purer than that of ordinary brooks.
The collection of salmon usually continues from the first ten days of
June until the beginning of July. During the early weeks of their
imprisonment the salmon are extremely active, swimming about and
leaping often into the air. After that they become very quiet, lying in
the deepest holes and rarely showing themselves. Early in October they
begin to renew their activity, evidently excited by the reproductive
functions. Preparations are now made for catching them by constructing
traps at the upper barrier. If the brook is in ordinary volume, these
means suffice to take nearly all, but a few linger in the deeper pools
and must be swept out with seines. About October 25 the taking of spawn
begins. After that date the fish are almost always ripe when they first
come to hand, and in three weeks the work of spawning is substantially
finished.
Although the salmon are taken from the fisherman without any attempt to
distinguish between males and females, it is always found at the
spawning season that the females are in excess, the average of four
seasons being about 34 males to 66 females. This is a favorable
circumstance, since the milt of a single male is fully equal to the
impregnation of the ova of many females.
The experiment has several times been tried of marking the salmon after
spawning and watching for their return in after years. After some
experiments, the mode finally fixed upon as best was to attach a light
platinum tag to the rear margin of the dorsal fin by means of a fine
platinum wire. The tags were rolled very thin, cut about half an inch
long and stamped with a steel die. The fish marked were dis missed in
the month of November. Every time it was tried a considerable number of
them was caught the ensuing spring, but with no essential change in
their condition, indicating that they had not meanwhile visited their
spawning grounds. In no case was a specimen caught in improved
condition during the first season succeeding the marking.
But the following year, in May and June, a few of them were taken in
prime condition--none otherwise--and it several times occurred that
female salmon were a second time committed to the inclosure and yielded
a second litter of eggs. The growth of the salmon during their absence
had been very considerable, there being always an increase in length
and a gain of twenty-five to forty per cent. in weight. The conclusion
seems unavoidable that the adult salmon do not enter the Penobscot for
spawning oftener than once in two years.
The method of impregnation employed has always been an imitation of the
Russian method introduced into America in 1871. The eggs are first
expressed into tin pans, milt is pressed upon them, and after they are
thoroughly mixed together, water is added. The result has been
excellent, the percentage of impregnated eggs rarely falling so low as
95.
After impregnation the eggs are transferred to the hatchery at Craig's
Pond Brook, where they are developed, resting upon wire-cloth trays in
wooden troughs, placed in tiers ten trays deep, to economize space, and
at the same time secure a free horizontal circulation of water.
The hatchery is fitted up in the basement of an old mill, of which
entire control has been obtained. The brook is one of exceptional
purity, and a steep descent within a few feet of the hatchery enables
us to secure at pleasure a fall of 50 feet or less. The brook formerly
received the overflow of some copious springs within a few hundred feet
of the hatchery, which so affected the temperature of the water that
the eggs were brought to the shipping point early in December, an
inconvenient date. This has been remedied by building a cement aqueduct
1,600 feet long, to a point on the brook above all the springs, which
brings in a supply of very cold water.
The shipment of eggs is made in January, February, and March, when they
are sent by express, packed in bog-moss, all over the northern States,
with entire safety, even in the coldest weather.
In the following statement is embraced a general summary of the results
of each season's work:
[IMAGE orlandeggs.png in html file--table in text file]
Salmon Females Eggs Eggs
Year bought spawned obtained distrib'd
---- ------ ------- -------- ---------
1871-72 111 11 72,071 70,500
1872-73 692 225 1,560,000 1,241,800
1873-74 650 279 2,452,638 2,291,175
1874-75 601 343 3,106,479 2,842,977
1875-76 460 237 2,020,000 1,825,000
1879-80 264 19 211,692 200,500
1880-81 522 227 1,930,561 1,841,500
1881-82 513 232 2,690,500 2,611,500
1882-83 560 256 2,075,000 2,000,000
----- ----- ---------- ----------
Total 4,373 1,829 16,148,941 14,924,952
ARTICLE III
PENNING OF SALMON IN ORDER TO SECURE THEIR EGGS.
By C. J. Bottemanne M.D. [From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baird.]
_Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission_, Vol. 4, Page 169, 1884.
In the Dutch "Economist" of 1874 I gave a description of the fish
breeding establishment of the State of New York, and therein I mentioned
the United States salmon-breeding establishment on the Penobscot,
principally for the penning of the salmon from June till breeding time.
As you are likely aware, the Dutch Government pays yearly $4,800 to
salmon breeders for young salmon delivered in spring, at the rate of 10
cents for yearlings, and not quite (4/5) one dollar per hundred for
those that are about rid of the umbilical sac, and ready to shift for
themselves. For the latter they receive payment only if there is money
left after delivering the yearlings.
The breeders get their eggs from Germany from Schuster in Freiburg, and
from Gloser in Basel; but complain always that the eggs are from too
young individuals, that there is always too much loss in transportation,
that the eggs are so weak that after the fish have come out there is
great mortality in the fry, &c.
In this month's "Economist" I published the results on the Penobscot,
and figured out that if breeders here set to work in the same style they
would get at least four eggs to one, at the same price, and be
independent.
We have an association here for promoting the fresh-water fisheries, of
which the principal salmon fishermen are members, and also several
gentlemen not in the business, including myself. In the December meeting
I told them all I knew about the Penobscot; and one breeder got a credit
for $200 for getting ripe salmon and keeping them in a scow till he had
what he wanted, and he has succeeded pretty well. Still this is only on
a limited scale. I want to put up larger pens and in the style of the
Penobscot. In order to do this I must know exactly what is done on the
Penobscot, and how.
What is the size of the pen, how large area, how deep? Is it above tidal
water? (This I take for granted.) What is the situation of the pond
compared with the river? What kind of failures were there, and the
probable reasons therefor? In short, I would like a complete description
of the place, with the history of it. I hope you will excuse my drawing
on you for such an amount, but as the United States is the authority in
practical fish-breeding, we are obliged to come to you.
I am sorry to say that I cannot report the catch of any _S. quinnat_,
yet three fish have been sent in for the premium we held out for the
first fifteen caught, but they proved not to be quinnat. Lately I heard
that there were so many salmon caught in the Ourthe, near Liege, Belgium
(the Ourthe is one of the feeders of the Maas), which was an astonishing
fact, as salmon are seldom taken there.
Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, January 12, 1884
ARTICLE IV
MEMORANDA RELATIVE TO INCLOSURES FOR THE CONFINEMENT OF SALMON DRAWN
FROM EXPERIENCE AT BUCKSPORT, PENOBSCOT RIVER, MAINE.
By Charles G. Atkins
[In response to request of Dr. C. J. Bottemanne.]
April 7, 1884.
_Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission_, Vol. 4, Pages 170-174,
1884.
The Penobscot salmon-breeding establishment was founded in 1872, at
Bucksport; in the State of Maine, near the mouth of the Penobscot River.
The location was primarily determined by the necessity of being near a
supply of living adult salmon, to be used for breeders.
After an exploration of the headwaters of the Penobscot, which lie
mostly in an uninhabited wilderness, the conclusion was reached that the
chances of securing a sufficient stock of breeders were much greater at
the mouth of the river, where the principal salmon fisheries are
located; but to avail ourselves of the supply here afforded we must take
the salmon at the ordinary fishing season, May, June, and July, and keep
them in confinement until the spawning season, which is here the last of
October and first of November. As the salmon naturally pass this period
of their lives in the upper parts of the rivers, it was thought
essential to confine our captives in fresh water.
Later experiments in Canada indicate that they will do as well in salt
water, but the construction and maintenance of inclosures is much easier
when they are located above the reach of the tide, to say nothing of the
proximity of suitable fresh water for the treatment of the eggs. In the
precise location of the inclosures several changes have been made, but
they have always been in fresh water, and within convenient distance (5
to 10 miles) of the place where the salmon were captured.
In our experiments and routine work we have made use of four inclosures,
which I will now describe.
No. 1. In Craig's Pond Brook, a very pure and transparent stream, an
artificial pond 40 square rods in area and 7 feet in extreme depth, was
formed by the erection of a dam. The bottom of this pond was mainly a
grassy sod newly flooded. About half the water came from springs in the
immediate vicinity, and the rest from a very pure lake half a mile
distant. The water derived from the lake was thoroughly aerated by its
passage over a steep rocky bed. The transparency of the water in the
pond was so great that a pin could be seen at the depth of six feet.
This inclosure was a complete failure. The salmon placed therein were
after a day or two attacked by a parasitic fungoid growth on the skin,
and in a few days died. Out of 59 impounded not one escaped the disease
and only those speedily removed to other waters recovered. Several,
removed in a very sickly condition to the lake supplying the brook,
recovered completely, from which it is safe to infer that the cause of
the trouble did not lie in the lake water.
Of the spring water I have some suspicions, and should not dare to
inclose salmon in it again.
No. 2. After the failure of the above experiment an inclosure was made
in the edge of an ordinary lake by stretching a stout net on stakes.
This water was brown in color, and objects 4 feet beneath the surface
were invisible. The bottom was gravelly and devoid of vegetation.
The depth was 7 and one half feet in early summer, and about 4 feet
after the drought of August and September. The area inclosed was about
25 square rods in June, and perhaps half as much at the end of summer.
This inclosure was entirely successful, very few salmon dying in it
except those that had been attacked by disease before their
introduction, and all the survivors were found to be in first-rate
condition in November. This site was not afterwards occupied, because
it was inconveniently located, and was exposed to the full force of
violent winds sweeping across the lake, and therefore unsafe.
No. 3. The inclosure in use for the confinement of the stock of
breeding fish for the four years from 1872 to 1875, inclusive, was made
by running a barrier across a narrow arm of a small lake (mentioned in
official reports as "Spofford's Pond") near Bucksport village. This
body of water, about 60 acres in area in the summer, receives the
drainage of not more than 5 square miles of territory through several
small brooks, that are reduced to dry beds by an ordinary drought.
About a quarter of the shores are marshy and the rest stony. The water
is highly colored by peaty matters in solution, and all objects are
invisible at a depth of 2 feet: The bottom is composed mostly of a fine
brown peaty mud of unknown depth. Aquatic vegetation of the genera,
_Nuphar_, _Nymphaea_, _Bragenia_, _Potamogeton_, &c., is abundant. The
water is nowhere more than 16 feet deep in the spring, and 11 feet in
midsummer. The portion inclosed is 2 feet shoaler.
The inclosure occupied sometimes 8 or 10 acres, and sometimes less. The
barrier was from 400 to 600 feet long, and was formed the first year of
brush; the second and third years of stake-nets, weighted down at the
bottom with chains; and the fourth year of wooden racks, 4 feet wide
and long enough to reach the bottom, which were pushed down side by
side. The brush was unsatisfactory. There were holes in it by which the
fish escaped. A single net would not retain its strength through a
whole season, the bottom rotting away and letting the fish out, unless
before the autumn was far advanced its position were reversed, the
stronger part that had been above water being placed now at the bottom.
This method was therefore rather expensive and not perfectly secure.
The wooden racks were costly and heavy to handle, but quite secure.
The salmon placed in this inclosure had to be carted in tanks of water
overland about a mile in addition to transportation in floating cars
from 3 to 5 miles; they were transferred suddenly from the salt water
of the river (about two-thirds as salt as common sea-water) into the
entirely fresh water of the lake. To all the supposed unfavorable
circumstances must be added the high summer temperature of the water.
During August the mean was generally above 70 degrees Fahrenheit at the
bottom and several degrees warmer at the surface. Occasionally there
was observed a midday temperature of 74 degrees F. and once 75 degrees
at the bottom. Yet this proved an excellent place for our purpose, a
satisfactory percentage of the salmon remaining in perfect health from
June to November.
No. 4. The inclosure in use since 1870 at Dead Brook, Bucksport. It is
located in a gently running stream bordered by marshy ground, with a
bottom in part of gravel but mostly of mud, crowded with aquatic
vegetation. The water, supplied by two small lakes among the hills, is
cleaner than the average of Maine rivers, but does not in that respect
approach the water of inclosure No. 1. The greatest depth is about 8
feet, but in the greater part of the inclosure it is from 3 to 5 feet.
The width of the stream is from 2 to 4 rods, and the portion inclosed
is 2,200 feet long. The barriers to retain the fish are in the form of
wooden gratings, with facilities for speedily clearing them of debris
brought down by the stream.
Better results were expected from this inclosure than from No. 3, but
have not been realized. The percentage of salmon dying in confinement
has been greater, amounting commonly to about 25 percent of those
introduced, and this notwithstanding the salmon are conveyed to the
inclosure by water carriage the entire distance (7 miles) instead of
being carted in tanks.
The cause of the trouble has not yet been discovered, but there is good
reason for thinking that it lies in some of the circumstances attending
the transfer of the fish from the place of capture, and that the
inclosure itself is perfectly suited to its purpose. This view is
supported by the fact that nearly all the losses occur within a few
weeks after the introduction of the salmon and almost wholly cease by
the end of July. If the cause of disease was located in the inclosure,
we should expect it to be more fatal after a long than a short duration
of the exposure of the fish to its action, and that with the smaller
volume and higher temperature of August it would be more active than in
June and July.
The above description will, I think, give Dr. Bottemanne a sufficiently
correct idea of the character of the inclosures we have tried. There
are, however, several other points to be touched upon to put him in
possession of the practical results of our experience.
The facilities for the recapture of the salmon when the spawning season
approaches must be considered. In the lake at Bucksport village (No. 3)
we hoped at first that their desire to reach a suitable spawning ground
would induce them all to enter the small brook that forms the outlet,
which was within the limits of the inclosure. In this matter our
expectations were but partially realized. Many of the fish refused to
leave the lake through the narrow opening that was afforded them, and
were only obtained by pound-nets, seines, and gill-nets, all of which
involved a considerable expenditure of labor and material.
The drawing of a seine in a large body of fresh water is likely to be
a serious undertaking unless the bottom has been previously cleared of
snags. In this respect the long and narrow inclosure at Dead Brook
possesses great advantages, since it can be swept with a comparatively
short seine. However, the influx and efflux of a considerable volume of
water is of great advantage in enticing the gravid fish into traps that
can readily be contrived for them by any ingenious fisherman.
The existence of a gravelly bottom in the inclosure must be considered
a positive disadvantage, inasmuch as it affords the fish a ground on
which they may lay their eggs before they can be caught; but the danger
of such an occurrence is less as the bounds of the inclosure are more
contracted and the facilities for capturing the fish are better.