ATLANTIC SALMON 



29 



TABLE II 

 The Seasonal Run of Salmon (Average Per- 

 centile Distribution for 1930, 1931 and 1937) 



Large 

 salmon 



=^ C3.2 



Weekly period S g -S 



On" 



1^ ("^ 



pqO' 



Small salmon 



r3 



& <n 



S^ tn -s 



':3 .3 '» 



03 03 9 



.2 S 

 a M 



C3 tpl 



13 >^ 



O C r-l 



0.8 



4.2 



12.4 



17.2 



^4.1 



18.5 



12.3 



7.4 



2.6 



0.4 



0.1 



0.6 



3.7 



9.0 



15.9 



20.8 



16.8 



10.8 



8.0 



6.8 



3.8 



3.8 



3.6 



2.6 

 12.8 

 33.5 

 31.0 

 13.5 



3.0 



100.0 100.0 100.0 



wick in both the shore-net and the drift-net 

 fisheries is practically identical with that 

 of the small salmon in the Bay of Chaleur 

 and on the Gaspe coast, whereas the Port- 

 aux-Basques run of salmon is about three 

 weeks earlier. 



The source of the large salmon of the 

 Bay of Chaleur and of the Gaspe coast is 

 unknown. Except for a few stragglers in 

 the early part of the season they do not pass 

 through the Miramichi or the Port-aux- 

 Basques drift-net fishing areas during the 

 period of commercial fishing. These large 

 salmon may have been in the vicinity of 

 Port-aux-Basques before weather condi- 

 tions permitted fishing, and in the Mira- 

 michi drift-net fishing area before the com- 

 mercial season opened. It is possible, 

 though unlikely, that the use of a 6i-inch 

 mesh in drift-net fishing may permit the 

 escape of the large salmon. 



From a practical standpoint the absence 

 of large salmon in the commercial drift-net 

 fishery is a most important factor in any 

 consideration of the effect of the Miramichi 



and the Port-aux-Basques drift-net fish- 

 eries upon the angling and shore-net fish- 

 eries of the Bay of Chaleur and of the 

 Gaspe coast. These two fisheries do not 

 cause any serious depletion of the large sal- 

 mon stock, but do take their toll of the 

 supply of small salmon. 



Tagging Experiments 



In 1937 the movements of the salmon in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence were studied by 

 means of tagging experiments. The prin- 

 cipal stations for tagging were: (1) Port- 

 aux-Basques drift-net fishing area on Cabot 

 Strait; (2) Margaree Harbor, Nova Scotia; 

 (3) Miramichi drift-net fishing area on the 

 east coast of New Brunswick; (4) Petit 

 Gaspe; (5) Seven Islands; (6) Natash- 

 quan; (7) St. Augustin, and (8) St. Paul, 

 the last four being on the north shore of 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



For the first time the tagging of salmon 

 taken in the drift-net fishery was success- 

 fully accomplished, 75 to 80 per cent of the 

 catch of the experimental boats being suit- 

 able for tagging. Thus an opportunity 

 was afforded for tagging salmon when they 

 first appeared early in the season at Port- 

 aux-Basques in the southeastern part of 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It also provided 

 a means of detecting the ultimate distribu- 

 tion of the Port-aux-Basques and Mira- 

 michi drift-net fishing area salmon and 

 thus of determining the effect of drift-net 

 fishing upon the shore and river fisheries 

 of certain sections of the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence. 



The percentages of recaptures for the 

 various tagging stations are given in Table 

 III. These data indicate that the per- 

 centage of recaptures is lowest when the 

 dispersal is most widespread, e.g., Port- 

 aux-Basques, and increases proportionally 

 as the distribution becomes more and more 

 localized, the highest returns being ob- 

 tained in the restricted area of Gaspe Bay. 



Two general conditions are shown by the 

 tagging experiments in the different sec- 

 tions of the Gulf of St. Lawrence: (1) the 

 widespread dispersal of the salmon to all 

 parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the 



