Part 4

Salmon caught with hook off Maine coast.

Instances are multiplying of the taking of salmon at sea on trawl lines on the New England coast. The salmon are usually taken during the time when the fish are running in the rivers, but occasionally one has been caught in midwinter. The following data relate to fish that probably belonged to the Penobscot school.

On June 19, 1896 a Gloucester fishing vessel brought into Rockland a 10-pound salmon that had been caught on a cod trawl 20 miles southeast of Matinicus. The fish was sent home to Gloucester by the captain of the vessel, through Mr. Charles E. Weeks, a Rockland fish-dealer.

Several salmon have been taken on hooks off Frenchman Bay within a few years. One 25-pound fish was caught on a cod trawl 3 miles off Gouldsboro, in 20 fathoms of water, and another was taken southeast of Mount Desert Island in 35 fathoms.

Some years ago, on May 22, one of the crew of the schooner Telephone, of Orland, Me., while fishing for cod on German Bank, caught a 10-pound salmon. German Bank lies about 50 miles southeast of Mount Desert Island and has 65 to 100 fathoms of water.

Destruction of salmon by seals.

Seals are known to kill a great many salmon in Penobscot Bay and the lower river. They enter and leave the weirs and traps without difficulty and cause great annoyance to the fishermen. When a seal enters a net, the fish are frightened and usually become meshed; the seal may then devour them at its leisure. The initial bite usually includes the salmon's head.

Fishermen in some places report a noticeable increase in seals in the past few years, and a consequent increase in damage done to the salmon fishery. The State pays a bounty of $1 each for seal scalps, which serves to keep the seals somewhat in check, although the sagacity of the animals makes it difficult to approach them with a rifle and to secure them when shot. Within a few years some weir fishermen have been obliged at times to patrol the waters in the vicinity of their nets, in order to prevent depredations. In the Cape Rosier region, where some salmon trap fishing is done, seals were very troublesome in the early part of the season of 1896. Mr. George Ames, who set three traps in 1896 and took about 100 salmon, had knowledge of 13 other salmon that were destroyed by seals while in his nets. Similar instances of relatively large numbers of salmon killed by seals might be given. With salmon worth 20 to 50 cents a pound the loss of 10 or 12 salmon by seals, in a total catch of 75 or 100, is a matter of importance to the fisherman.

Evidences of results of propagation.

The opinion is now practically unanimous among the salmon fishermen of Penobscot River and Bay that the artificial hatching of salmon by the U.S. Fish Commission is producing beneficial results. About the same arguments in support of their opinions are presented by all, and these accord well in the main with the observations of other persons who have given this matter attention:

(1) The opportunities for natural reproduction are exceedingly limited, owing to the obstructions to the passage of the fish to their spawning grounds in the headwaters of the Penobscot basin.

(2) The salmon that are naturally hatched are, even under the most favorable conditions prevailing at the present time, not numerous enough to keep up the supply of market and brood fish, with the fatalities incident to the long residence at sea and to the passage of immature fish down from the spawning grounds to the sea.

(3) The remarkable run in May and June, 1896, of fish of comparatively small size that had apparently just reached maturity and the relative scarcity of large fish that had evidently been in the river during one or two previous seasons seemed to show a tendency toward the depletion of the run of old fish and the substitution of a run of young, artificially hatched fish.

(4) A feature of the salmon supply in recent years, on which the fishermen nearly all lay considerable stress, is that the runs in April and July, which in former years were often quite important and remunerative, have of late been very poor, although the fish constituting them are of large size, while the runs in May and June have kept up, but have consisted chiefly of comparatively small fish. In this the fishermen believe they see evidence of the work of the hatchery, for the young salmon artificially hatched have been from eggs of May and June fish, and the fishermen think that such young fish, when they return to the river to spawn, will come at about the same time that their parents did.

Many salmon fishermen might be quoted on the question of results of propagation. A few sample statements and records of salmon taken will be given covering different parts of the bay and river.

Mr. Francis French, an experienced salmon fisherman of Stockton, on the western side of Penobscot Bay, reports that of the 61 salmon taken in his weir in 1896, 56 were under 11 pounds in weight, and all evidently belonged to the same year's brood. In 1895 the 29 salmon obtained by Mr. French averaged 20 pounds each. According to his observations, a very large percentage of the salmon in the Penobscot region in 1896 were hatchery fish that then entered the river for the first time.

Mr. A. H. Whitmore, a salmon fisherman of over thirty years' experience, who fishes three weirs off the southern end of Whitmore Island, states that in that part of the river the catch in 1896 was the largest in thirty years, with the exception of one season. He thinks there is no doubt whatever of the beneficial results of artificial propagation, as shown by the maintenance of the supply when obstructions to the passage of salmon to the upper waters must greatly curtail natural spawning.

Mr. Joseph Hurd, of Winterport, has two weirs at Oak Point, which is the upper limit of weir fishing for salmon on the west side of the river; the nets are about 12 miles below Bangor; 25 salmon were taken in 1895, and 60 in the following year. The catch was better in 1896 than in a number of years. Eight years before, Mr. Hurd took 140 salmon, which was the best season in his experience; since then the fish have been decreasing until 1896. He thinks very few fish get to their spawning-grounds, owing to dams and other obstructions in the river above Bangor, and has no doubt the small fish which were so conspicuous in 1896 were from the Government hatchery.

Mr. William F. Abbott, of Verona, who has two weirs on Whitmore Island, caught 41 salmon in 1895, and 80 in 1896. He makes the following statement:

"In my opinion, there would not enough salmon come into the river to pay for building weirs if there had been no salmon artificially hatched; and I hope the Government will continue to keep the salmon fishing up, so it will pay to build our weirs. No person that knows anything about it can doubt that it is a good thing for the fishermen."

Mr. Harvey Heath, of Verona, has two weirs on the eastern side of the southern end of Whitmore Island. He caught 62 salmon in 1895, and 100 in 1896. He thinks that the removal of obstructions to the passage of fish to their spawning-grounds would be all that is necessary to secure a good run of fish in the river, but believes that under present conditions the salmon-cultural work of the Government is very useful in sustaining the fishery.

Three weirs of Mr. E. A. Bowden, located on the eastern side of Whitmore Island, above those of Mr. Heath, took, 31 salmon in 1895, and 85 in 1896. Mr. Bowden says:

"I think that if it was not for the hatchery we would not have any salmon to speak of, for all the school we have is in June. April, May, and July salmon are very scarce."

Mr. Charles G. Atkins, superintendent of the government salmon hatchery in Orland, Me., informs the writer that he has been inclined to believe that each year a great many salmon succeed in reaching their spawning grounds; but recent observations have caused him to change his mind, and he is now of the opinion that only relatively few salmon elude the traps, weirs, and gill nets, surmount the dams and fishways, escape the poachers, and succeed in depositing their eggs under conditions favorable to their development. The dam at Bangor, while certainly a formidable obstruction to the passage of fish, is probably passable at high water. It is provided with a fishway, and some fish are known to surmount the dam by this means. Above Bangor, in the main river, there are dams at Great Works and Montague, the dam at Montague being an especially serious obstruction, although it is provided with a good fishway. Below the dam at Bangor there is little poaching, but below the other dams--especially at Montague--comparatively large numbers of salmon are sacrificed by the illegal use of the spear and drift net. In 1896 all the salmon below Montague were at the mercy of poachers after July 15, when all wardens on the river were laid off. The supply of spawning fish was thus greatly reduced. The people above Bangor have no interest in preserving the salmon supply of the river, as they receive none of the benefits from fishing which are enjoyed by fishermen of the lower river.

This year Mr. Atkins, having this matter under consideration, visited the east branch of the Penobscot River. A certain tributary of the east branch, which was said to be one of the best spawning-grounds for salmon in the Penobscot basin, was obstructed by a dam in the spawning region. The dam was impassable to fish in July, and had been so during the previous months. In a deep pool below the dam, which was reported to be a favorite resort for salmon each season, no salmon were found. In other words, if the salmon had reached this stream they could not have gotten above the dam, and would undoubtedly have congregated in the pool mentioned and been noticed, but no fish had ascended even that far.

Extension of salmon-hatching operations on the Penobscot.

The establishment of branch hatcheries has been suggested in order to utilize the spawning salmon in the region which lies above commercial fishing, and thus increase by artificial means the production of young fish. It is well known that even under the best conditions now prevailing in our streams the eggs of anadromous fishes like the salmon and shad are liable to numerous destructive agencies; that only a small percentage of the eggs laid under natural surroundings ever hatch, and that the young are subject to heavy mortality up to the time when they leave the river and enter the salt water. Probably 5 per cent would be much too large an estimate of the number of salmon eggs which in a state of nature produce fish that reach the ocean. Fish-culture, on the other hand, hatches 95 per cent of the eggs and raises 75 per cent of the fry to the age of yearlings. Of 206,350 Atlantic salmon eggs obtained in 1895 at the government station at Craig Brook, 206,109 were hatched and 151,761 yearling fish were liberated in the fall. The percentage of eggs hatched was thus 99.88 and the percentage of yearlings raised was 78.39. This is sufficient ground for interfering with the salmon even after they have reached their spawning-beds, and justifies the establishment of hatcheries in the headwaters of the Penobscot, provided the supply of fish in any section is large enough to insure a reasonable take of eggs.

No examinations of the upper tributaries of the Penobscot thus far made have disclosed the existence of any stream on which the construction of a branch salmon hatchery is warranted, owing to the few salmon obtainable. The matter deserves further investigation, however, and will receive due consideration at an early date. It is thought that a satisfactory supply of fish may be secured by constructing a dam or rack which will intercept fish in the main stream and lead practically the entire run into one tributary, where they may be retained.