The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-05-28
From lIarpers Magazine for June.
Collecting Salmon Spawn in Maine.

ing salnlon abOunded in nearly every New Eng
land river north of the Connecticut, which ap
pears 10 nave been their southern limit. and il
all the tributaries of the st. Lawrence below
Niagara, With rare exceptions. Under prOyi
dent management the salmon fishery of these
rivers might have continued for ali indefinite
numoer ol years to yield large supply o.
nutritious food for the >uStelrnce Of our teem-
ing population; but the greed of the few anC
the mdlfference OF the many have resulted in the
eNtenllnatlon of this noble fish iii nearly all
those waters. OF the tributaries of the st
Lawrence within the limits of the United States
Sallnh River, i'll New York, is the only ono
now annually 1requented by salmon, and on the
Atlantic coast they are constant visitors only III
the hennebec, PenobScot Muscongus. East
Macll:ts, DennyS, and st. CrOiN. OF these, the
Penohscot furnishes more than all the others,
and Is ordinary annual yield may be put at
from 1iVr TO ten thousand salmon. This does
not exceed the twentieth part of IFS capacity, il
the Nlter may be measured hy the product OF
Somt Irish salmon rivers. and certainly bears a
smal proportion to the former actual Weld of
the rrnobScOt itself
When Ths work Of restoring the migratory
iiSh> to their barren rivers was first under
taken by the New ENGLAND STATES the salmon
naturally received 4 large siare Of attention
ana from that time till the present persistent
eior have been made To rr-establiSh him in Iii is
old haunts. 1T is Il Wcl-knoWn habit OF mi@r;l-
tory fishes, such rs the ~had and salmon to re-
tun. when full-mfoWn from the sea 10 the
river where they We're reared, and there de
post thew spawn. In order, therefore, to re-
stock an exhausted salmon river. il is only
necessary t. place IN it, upper waters very
Nomg salmon iii sufficient numbers 10 insure
the growth oi considerable number to full
size, after allowing for all LOSSES hN the ordi-
nary peril~ incident to fish iIe. The only prac-
ticable way OF securing an ample supply OF the
Noun% fish is to obtain the e@e- and hatch them.
The importance II restoring salmon rivers to
the fullest possible yield will he better under
stood by our citizens when thcy learn the al
most incredible g-oWtl! OF the fish This is as
serted bV some dose observers to be nearly Il
pound / month lhe experiments thus far
made in this country are not sufficiently COM
plctc to give perfect Information on this point,
bn they do moi vary greatly from facts which
have been gathered bV persons in scotland and
clseM here. who seem to agree that spawn le-
posted in Nnymhcr is Matched in the follow
ing March; in Nay the ">moltS" have attained
two or three inches i'll length, and take their
course toward saltwater. from which they re-
turn in the fail greatly increased in size. SHAW,
in his In0iDYH. mentions that salmon of seven
and threp-tu:Itrr pounds was marked with
scissors on the 'acl> lin and tail. and turned out
on the 7th Of February. and being rctaLcn in
March OF the following year, was found to have
increased to a weight of seventeen and Il half
pounds. Mr.. Michacl Carroll, of Newfoundland,
gives instances nearly as remarkable.
lht hfS' HiriillN ,l 'oIt'tlfi@ i''' spawn
were mAdG m AeW l'ruhSWl'k, whose rivers
81 ABOUND WIN S"llhoi. New l'a'llShirr had
the hnnoro sending ont the pioneer expedition,
unarr charge Of Dr. W. w. Fletcher, who sue
cecdcd in bringing back lot of healthy eggs,
The >dmc gentleman made 4 ScrUnt! expedition,
and subsequently Mr.. Livingston stone. under
the patronage Of several states, erected 4 large
hHtching house on the Miramlrhl River, and
prepared to collect eggs on 4 large scale. But,
for reasons that it is unnecessary to discuss
here. il was found impracticahc TO carry on
these operations, and they had to be abandoned.
The only remaining way of obtaining salmon
eggs was to huy them at the Canadian govern
mental establishment III ontario. where they
Were Sold at forty dollars in gold per thousand.
4 price which would have placed the purchase
OF an adequate supply entirely cyond the means
at the command of the State Commissioners.
even had the establishment been on a sufficient
Nv large Scale t. furnish them, which was not
the ease Thus before any thing adequate to
the situation had been done. the cultivation OF
salmon WAS brought to Il >tan,l-Still At this
innctllre an ENTERPRISE was inauguratcd ou the
Penob>cot River. the success Of which has put
Il new aspect on the matter.
The P,uohscot being the most productive
salmon river at the present tl;ly on the Atlantic
coast Of the United StateS offered better facilj-
ties than any other for the collection ut spawn
1t was proposed to buy a number of living sal
III.