Evening star., 1896-06-27
TRAPS FOR PENOPsCOT SALMON.
HO wthe King Of Fishes is Taken al
BuckspOrt.

buckspOrt.
From the Lewiston CNfe) Journal.
About this time the Penobscot river fs
yielding up one of its most important pro-
| ducts and is sending to market its own spe-
| cial private brand of food fish, which goes
ahead even of the late A. Wards entertain
ment enterprise and is exalted" by none
The genuine Penobscot salmon is without
peer. The Canadian imitation is a very
| good one, and often, very often. masauer-
| AIDES as aYankee fish in the markets, but
| the epicurean salmon authority will tell YOU
| that the Nova Scotian lacks the fineness Of
| grain and the exquisite flavor of the Penol-
scot product.
! When you look at the great silver beauties
! on the slabs in the market you may be
| pretty sure of one Of two things. They are
P'Icbscot salmon or they are not. Don't
| Try TO impress upon any one that you can
! tell the difference between the fish that
comes from St John and the one that comes
ficm Bucksport on the Penobscot, because
| ul'iess you are an expert of experts, you
! can't do 1t. Here is little pointer for you:
Canadian fish almost Invariably are large
! ones from eighteen pounds and up. as the
smallest are not shipped, but Kept for
| smoking.
| the Boston market, ami gilt-edge prices rule
! until the Canadian rival comes and COM
| petition brings prices down TO a low level
The first salmon taken from the Penoiscot
/ RIVER each season iS very valuable fish
netting its owner AT least 81 - per pound
and the Croesus who would dine upon that
iSh must pay handsomely for the privilege
ms Price Is good for but A few fish and
soon crops to ScyentE-fiNe, sixty and :ifty
cents. From the latter figure the slide is
quick to twenty-five, twenty eighteen and
son etlfnes fifteen cents, according to the
supply. These prices for whole fish at
wholesale. Twenty-Five cents is considered
a remarkably low price for cuts thirty-rye
10 fifty cents Icing more common figures
rail il.l
the Penobscot. at the same prices and at
inuch more profit to the marketmen. who
buy The Canadian fish from five to twenty
cents lower than those from Maine
IT, salmon fisherman has trials and trih-
uisiions without number. The building of
his weii in the early spring is hard cold
work. often to be smashed fat by the ice
or tie leeward drift Of some beuildered o.
n.fo%eed coasting schooner. Then seals
ucSi!Sh, paTpoiSe sturgeon or some othor
stray critfer gets mixed up with the net
ting muo n to its detriment. The seal is the
particular bare of the weir owners exist
ence They sneak into the pound and catch
a fne salmon. scoop everything out of the
skin, and leave il floating like the shell Of
sucked egg tc encourage profanity In
places where seals are plenty a dory with
a stuffed dummy man in the stern is an
chored near the weir-not exactly a scare
crow. but a ''scareseaI." This ruse is ouit/
ehectual, as the seal lacks the nerve ana
general up-to-dativeneSS of the crow who
by the way. loafs around the weir for luck
.iiiehi iieb tl!dl Sti .Slt 4llen and dry
the floor OF the pound
While the trap is built with intentions on
the salmon. all kinds of fish come i'm their
season. Alcwives. founders tomcods, eel
and an occasi Dnai shad or sea bass help out
the seasons profits.
Twice q year the United States govern
ment iish commission buys fish for the
hatchery AT East Orland. These have to l,e
kept alive and delivered to a collecting boat
which calls for them daily. For the extra
t,ouole The fishermen get handsome bonus.
though not so handsome of late years as
formerly.
Bangor. Bucksport and Belfast are the
principal shipping points for the fish. They
are usually packed in ice in long narrow
boxes holding one large or two small ones
and an expert packer can land a salmon in
Chicago in surprisingly fine and fresh APP
bearing condition