Part 2 (1/2)

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 princ.i.p.al sp.a.w.ning 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 Pen.o.bscot, 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 Pen.o.bscot, 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 Hamps.h.i.+re, seconded by that of the neighboring state of Ma.s.sachusetts, having in view primarily the fisheries of the Merrimack and Connecticut Rivers. The course of the Merrimack lies wholly within the states of New Hamps.h.i.+re and Ma.s.sachusetts; 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 sp.a.w.ning 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 Pen.o.bscot River in the state of Maine, which, though very unproductive compared with Canadian rivers, might yet, perhaps, be made to yield the requisite quant.i.ty of sp.a.w.n.

A preliminary examination of the river brought out the following facts: The Pen.o.bscot is about 225 miles in length. The upper half of its course and nearly all of its princ.i.p.al 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, Pen.o.bscot Bay. There was no means of knowing how great a proportion of the salmon entering this river succeeded in pa.s.sing 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 s.e.xes scattered through the hundreds of miles of rivers and streams forming the headwaters of the Pen.o.bscot.

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 inst.i.tuted by the commissioners' of Maine, Ma.s.sachusetts, 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 pa.s.sed the summer with few losses, arrived at the breeding season in perfect health, and yielded at the proper time their normal amount of healthy sp.a.w.n 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 Pen.o.bscot station), and establis.h.i.+ng 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.sed 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.