Part 7

REPORT ON THE SCHOODIC SALMON WORK OF 1884-85

By Charles G. Atkins.

Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 5, Pages 324-325, 1885.

The measurement of the stock of Schoodic salmon eggs at Grand Lake Stream at time of packing and shipment, and the record of previous losses, enable me to complete the statistics, as follows:

Original number taken ...................................1,820,810 The total losses up to that time, including the unfertilized, which were removed before packing............254,410 Net stock of sound eggs..................................1,566,400 Reserved for Grand Lake....................................397,400 Available for shipment to subscribers ...................1,169,000

These were divided among the parties supplying the funds for the work in proportion to their contributions, as follows:

Allotted to the United States Commission...................608,000 Allotted to the Maine Commission...........................234,000 Allotted to the Massachusetts Commission...................187,000 Allotted to the New Hampshire Commission...................140,000

Total....................................................1,169,000

The share of the United States Commission was assigned and shipped, under orders, as follows:

A. W. Aldrich, commissioner, Anamosa, Iowa..................50,000 E. A. Brackett, commissioner, Winchester, Mass..............25,000 H. H. Buck, Orland, Me, to be hatched for Eagle Lake, Mount Desert....................................20,000 Paris, Mich., for Michigan commission.......................50,000 Madison, Wis., for Wisconsin commission.....................50,000 R. O. Sweeny, commissioner, Saint Paul, Minn ...............50,000 South Bend, Nebr., for Nebraska Commission..................20,000 E. B. Hodge, commissioner, Plymouth, N.H....................40,000 Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., for New York Commission..........60,000 Plymouth, N. H., for Vermont Commission ....................25,000 Plymouth, N. H., for Lake Memphremagog .....................25,000 Central Station, Washington, D.C. ..........................10,000 R. E. Earll, World's Exposition, New Orleans ................5,000 G. W. Delawder, commissioner, Baltimore .....................5,000 Myron Battles, North Creek, N................................5,000 A. R. Fuller, Meacham Lake, N. .............................20,000

F. Mather for transmission to Europe as follows: For Herr von Behr, Germany..................................40,000 For Tay Fishery Board, Scotland.............................20,000 For National Fish Culture Association, England..............30,000

Total to Europe.............................................90,000

Enfield, Maine for Maine Commission.........................58,000

Total......................................................608,000

A few of the shipments have been heard from, and these all reached their destinations safely.

BUCKSPORT, ME. March 31, 1885

ARTICLE VI

METHODS EMPLOYED AT CRAIG BROOK STATION IN REARING YOUNG SALMONID FISHES

By Charles G. Atkins, Superintendent U. S. Fish Commission Station at Craig Brook, Maine.

Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 13, Pages 221-228, 1893.

The station of the U. S. Fish Commission at Craig Brook was founded in 1889, on the same site where, in 1871, the first attempt at the artificial spawning of salmon in the United States was made. This site had been selected by the commissioners of fisheries of the States of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for that experiment because of its proximity to the salmon fisheries of the Penobscot River and the facilities presented for the maturing of the spawn that might be obtained.

The collection of spawn has been carried on in the vicinity annually from 1871 to the present time, with the exception of the three years 1876,1877, and 1878, and since 1879 the development of the spawn has been conducted constantly at Craig Brook. No attempt was, however, made to rear the fry of any species until 1886. Two years later it was definitely determined to found a permanent station at Craig Brook, and in 1889 the purchase of the grounds was effected and permanent improvements begun.

The station is located in the town of Orland, Me., 7 miles east of Bucksport, a seaport on the Penobscot River. Its territory embraces a tract of land extending between Allamoosook Lake and Craig Pond and embracing within its limits the entire length of Craig Brook, which connects those two bodies of water. Its latitude is about 44 degrees 42' N. The mean annual temperature and precipitation are believed to approximate those of Orono, 25 miles distant, namely, 42.48° F. [5.8° C.] and 45.44 inches [116 cm.]. The range of air temperature observed at the station is from 18° F. below zero to 92.5°F. above [-27.7° C. to 33.6° C.]. Frosts not infrequently occur as late as the 1st of June and as early in autumn as the first week in September. The lakes in the vicinity are commonly covered with ice before the end of November, and they are not often released until near the end of April.

The water supply is derived from Craig Brook and from three large and several lesser springs. The source of the brook is Craig Pond, which affords a constant supply of exceedingly transparent water, warm in summer and cold in winter, moderated, however; in both extremes by the water from the springs, which mingles with the brook in its lower course, forming about a third of its volume. It is this mixed water which is mainly used in the rearing of fish. Its temperature ranges from 34° F. [1.1° C.] to 70°F. [21.1°C.]. The lowest monthly mean in 1893 was 35.8° F. [2.1° C.] in February. The highest was 64.6°F. [18.1°C.] in August. The total volume is variable, ranging from 875 to 3,000 gallons and averaging about 1,200 gallons per minute.

The difference of level between the source and mouth of the brook is about 190 feet. The sharpest descent is just above the hatchery and rearing troughs, which therefore receive well-aerated water. The conformation of the ground offers good facilities for the distribution and utilization of the water.

The leading motive in the foundation of this station was the desire to apply to the Atlantic salmon the system of rearing fish to the age of at least several months before liberating them. This motive has determined not only the principal subjects of the work, but also to a considerable extent the fixtures and methods. The scheme of work was determined in outline several years before the acquisition of full title to the premises, and, circumstances rendering it desirable to enter at once on its development, it became necessary to have recourse to movable apparatus, pending authority for permanent improvements.

Hence the erection of a series of small troughs in the open air, which gave such excellent satisfaction that enlargement took the same direction; and it has thus come about that the rearing operations of the station down to the present time have been almost exclusively conducted in open-air troughs. A series of ponds has been constructed, but with the exception of a few small ones none of them have been as yet brought into use.

The troughs are for the most part such as are used in the hatchery for the maturing of spawn, and their form and size have been adapted to the hatching apparatus which has been in use at the Maine station for many years. The eggs are developed on wire-cloth trays measuring 12 and one half inches in width and length, and the troughs are therefore 12 and three quarter inches wide. Their depth is 9 inches and their length is 10 feet 6 inches. Such short troughs were adopted for two reasons: