THE RIVER FISHERIES OF MAINE. 725 



entire basin is covered with forest. Its lake surface measures 46.8 square miles. A much larger 

 proportion of its basin is occupied by sandy and gravelly land I ban any of the larger rivers of 

 the State, a circumstance that doubtless contributes largely to tbe constancy of its flow. The 

 main river is deep, not a single ford existing within 100 miles of the sea. The tributaries, how- 

 ever, afford many gravelly shallows adapted to the requirements of salmon as spawning ground. 

 Several natural falls of considerable height oppose the ascent of auadromous fishes. The first, 

 at the head of the tide, seems to have prevented tbe ascent of any but salmon, which were able 

 to surmount all obstacles as far as Hiram, 45 miles from the sea, where they encountered an 

 insurmountable obstacle in Great Fulls, about 80 feet in height. Below this point they had 

 access to the Great and Little Ussipee Rivers, tributary to the Saco on the west side, in which 

 they are believed to have, found their best breeding ground. Tradition asserts their ancient 

 abundance, but that had passed away more than ninety years ago, and at no time within seventy- 

 five years have they been so abundant that a man could take more than five or six in a day 

 with a dip-net at Saco Falls, the principal fishing place known to Saco tradition. The latest 

 date of the capture at Salmon Falls, 1G miles from the sea, was in 1843, and since 1850 they have 

 been practically extinct, but in recent years occasional specimens are taken with dip-nets in an 

 illegal and surreptitious way at the Saco and Biddeford Falls. 



Shad and bass have been taken in the tidal portion, of the river in recent times, and both 

 were much fished for in 1860. In 1867 gill nets were in use for shad and several men found occu- 

 pation in the fishery, but it has since been abandoned. Several nets are still in existence and 

 occasionally set, but not regularly. Alewives are sometimes dipped, but not regularly, nor in 

 any considerable numbers. 



The smelt fishery is the only one regularly followed. The only method employed is that of 

 hook and line, plied under the shelter of a movable house on the ice. The favorite location is 

 about 2 miles belo\v the falls, and the fishing is done mostly by night, the houses being lighted by 

 kerosene lamps and heated by small coal stoves. The largest and best houses use six lines ea.ch. 

 Some twenty-five men engage in the business. Their aggregate catch is estimated at 6,250 pounds 

 of smelts in the winter of 1879-'80, and they received better prices than the fishermen of any 

 other locality, owing to the superior size and quality of the smelts. 



MOUSAM RIVER. This small river, about 24 miles long and draining about 120 square miles 

 of territory, runs for nearly its whole length through a sandy country, and its water is very pure. 

 At its head is Mousam Pond, a body of water covering about 3 square miles. The Mousain was 

 anciently frequented by salmon, shad, and alewives, and salmon were at one time very plenty. 

 The salmon were exterminated many years ago, and though a few alewives and shad yearly enter 

 the river, there is no fishery for them nor for any other river fish at present existing. 



YORK RIVER. The extreme length of York River is a.bout 12 miles, and its basin has an 

 area not exceeding 50 square miles. Of its early history no facts have been learned. At present 

 it is the site of a small smelt fishery employing two bag-nets and prod ucing 3,000 pounds. of smelts 

 in a year. 



PISCATAQUA RIVER. The drainage basin of the Piscataqua, which forms the boundary 

 between Maine and New Hampshire, has an area of 550 square miles, of which 240 square miles ia 

 in the State of Maine. Its lakes, having an area of 16 square miles, are thoroughly utilized as 

 reservoirs for extensive mills at Great Falls and Salmon Falls. At the latter point the inaiu river 

 (here called Salmon Falls River) is hopelessly obstructed against the ascent of anadroiuous fishes, 

 and the principal tributaries are in nearly the same condition. The main upper wat ei s are believed 



