Milford chronicle., 1892-07-08
Fish in the D ware-

: The Delaware fiheIt WAleiH
ishes thousands Of fish ofvariA us deseriptio
to the people living along Shores al
J within days ride Of it, and V hieh also
fords many days of sport to We pleasur
seeking angler, is becoming modf famous
this every year. The entire stF g, says
Philadelphia paper, is being estoeked
the fish commission Of Pennsylvania, viii
the United States Fish Comrhissiou detaile
one of its most important .saschitlg steam
ers, the Fish hawk, to the DelNware for tw
months of duty this spring. ABOUT 5000
salmon have been deposited in Me head
waters ofthe river.
The water OF the Delaware, in the uppe
part of its course is very cold, the river beihai
fed by cold mountain brooks and is vel
adapted to the growth and development Of
salmon. Trout are caught in the Delaware
$50 miles below its source, which indicates
that the GOODNESS of the water and the TEN
pera.ure necessary for the proper growth
and development Of salmon is about the same
as that Of trout.
The Delaware river from the New York
state line to tidewater at Trenton is nothing
but succession ofreefs aud pools, and in
this respect is better adapted for the growth
of salmon than any river south of the New
England coast
The 800 900 eggs from which these salmon
were Matched were obtained from the United
States hatchery in Maine by the Pennsylva-
mia Commission. These eggs were distribut.
ed between the hatcheries at Allentowu aud
Cory, Pa, 10000 at each place, neither
hatchery being able to accommodate the
entire quantity.
The salmon which were deposited last
week will remain In the Delaware about two
years. and until they are about ten inches in
length, when they will descend the stream
and go out into the ocean, where they usual
" remain from TIVE to three years. When
they return from the ocean they AaYe attain
ed a weight of twelve to eighteen pounds
The Pennsylvania Commission was led to
try this experiment from the success Of a
similar plan by the New Jersey Commission
in 1887 lat which time the fsh were placed
very low down the river, below the Water
Gap, and returned from the sea in 1889 and
1890, and many salmon were caught in the
Delaware ranging in weight from twelve to
twenty two pounds each. They were pTinci-
pally caught in shad nets at that time there
being no law for their protection. The act
passed by the last Legislature making a
closed season for salmon aud forbidding their
capture by any other means than rod, hook |
and line, and also forbiddiHg the taking Of
fish under three pounds in weight will, no
doubt, protect the smelts from being taken |
out of the river before going to sea. In 1890 |
100, 200 salmon had been placed in head |
waters of the river and last summer a mum |
her Of them were captured by parties |
ignorant Of the name of the fsh at the time
of the taking This shows that the fry had
developed in the river during the short
period they were placed there.
Besides the work done by the commission |
in stocking the Delaware with shad and sal
mon its efforts have also been exerted in the |
stocking of other large rivers Of the State. |
At the Erie hatchery at present from 40, oOo,- |
900 to 10000 900 pike-perch are being hatch
ed. Besides this 100000 Of white
fsh have Just been Matched aud planted in |
Lake Erie. Several millions of these pike
perch have been brought East and placed in
The Delaware, Susquehauna, Juniata ,SchuYl |
kill aud Lehigh rivers, aud some of the |
larger ones in lowlan6 creeks of the State. |
These fish attained a weight of fifteen to
eighteen pounds and are very good tabiefsh.
It takes from three to five years after the
planting of these fish for their development
to be percei ed
Besides these fish, the commission have
placed in the Delaware large numbers of
pike, strawberry bass, whitebass, and rock /
bass. They have all been put in the Delaware
above the Water Gap. The rock bass, which |
we're FIRST placed in the river few days ago.
are already very numerous. OF the others,
he deposit has been too recent to show much
result as yet, although the pike-Perch that
we're put in the upper part Of the river few
years age are quite numerous. The Della
ware has been stocked with shad annually
Tor the last seven years. The destruction of
ish weirs in the Delaware, and the iutrodue
ion of fish ways in the dam at Lackawaxen
1as enabled the people of the upper valleys
o fish successfully for shad over 100 miles
,bove that town, and has increased the shad
production of the Delaware from a value $50
700 in 1881 to from $4,000 to 500, 1000 an
iually in the last three years.