The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-05-20

COLLECTING SALMON SPAWN IN MAINE
The first attempts at collecting the spawn
were made in New Brunswick, whose rivers
still abound with salmon. New Hampshire
bad the honor ofsending out the pioneer ex-
| pedition, under charge of DIR. w. w. Fletch-
er, who succeeded in bringing back lot of
healthy eggs. The same gentleman made
second expedition, and subsequently, Mr.,
Livingston Stone, under the patronage OF
several States, erected large Matching house
on the Mlramichi River, and prepared to col :
lect eggs ON large scale. But, for reasons
that it is unnecessary to discuss here, it was
found impracticable to carry ON these opera
tions, and they had to be abandoned. The
only remaining way of obtaining salmon
eggs was to buy them at the Canadian gov
ernmental establishment in Ontario, where
they were sold at forty dollars in gold per
thousand, price which would have placed
the purchase of an adequate supply entirely
L beyond the means at the command of the
State Commissioners, even had the establish
ment been on sufficiently large scale to
furnish them, which was not the case. Thus
before any thing adequate to the situation
had been done, the cultivation of salmon was
brought to a stand-still. AT this juncture an
enterprise was inaugurated on the Penobscot
River, the success OF which has put a new as
| pect on the matter.
The Penobscot being the most productive
/
lantic coast of the United States, offered bet
ter facilities than any other for the collection
| Of spawn IL was proposed to buy number
| OF living salmon in the month Of June when
they are ascending the river and are caught
in small weirs near Bucksport, and confine
t-them in a small pord or inclosure, in fresh
water, until the maturity of their eggs.
which occurs about the first of November.
This scheme appeared to possess important
advantages over the plan of capturing the
fish on tine upper waters of the river, at or
near the spawning season, as had been COM
monty done in previous operations, and the
Commissioners of Maine, Massachusetts. and
Connecticut united in its execution. The
first experiment was tried in Orland; and
though the conditions under which the sal
mon we're confined were so sngularly unfor-
tunate as to cause the loss OF more than
eighty per cent. of the salmon bought, vet
seventy thousand eggs were obtained at a
cost less than half the price asked in Canada.
The result was SO encouraging that the fol-
lowing year the same parties, Joined by the
United States Commissioner of Fish and
Fisheries and the Commissioner OF Rhode
Island, founded the establishment at Bucks
port. A'-"
The majority of travellers obtain their 6rst
view OF Bucksport from the deck of one of the
Portland or Boston steamers, and there is not
another village of its size ON the Penobseot
River that makes show so imposing. Four
or five miles below the town the voyager leaves
the broad Penobscot Bay, on which he has
been sailing for tive or six hours, and enters
the river If of an observant turn, particu-
larly If it be near low water he discerns along
the shore numerous fish weirs, built of stakes,
brush, and netting, running from high-water
mark straight out into deep water. The part
near shOro always consists of a straight hedge,
called the ''ea1er," which, as its name ind;z
Gates, serves to lead the fish into a large in
closure or pound at its outer end. This in
closure opens into smaller one, and this
into third.an three being so Ingenious
ly constructed that the fish readily pass
forward into the last pound, but rarely
hnd their way out into freedom.
In the third pound the captured fish
are left by the retreating tide on floor, from
which they are gathered by the fisherman at
low water. Salmon are the principal fish
caught in the weirs on the Penobscot; but
many other kinds, such as shad, alewives,
herring, menhaden, etc., are caught with
them. G.flLJlt - Iit p
The average yield of the fifty-pound nets
in the immediate vicinity OF Bucksport ID
not less than four thousand salmon per an
mum. Quite twothirds of this number could
be secured by the purchase for the Matching
works, if such vast number could be hand
led At present the catch of salmon from
few nets is quite sufficient to furnish all the
eggs which can be conveniently handled.
Fortunately, too, the salmon delivered at the
Matching house, and the average catch of the
nets, will not vary much from three females
to the single male, and with this run the eggs
may be perfectly impregnated. .~-Chories G.
Atkins, IN Harper's Magazine for June.