90 



THE MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION OF SALMON 



end of the stretch of coast where the fishery- 

 is conducted roughly a month earlier at 

 Cape Split, the inner end, than at Mar- 

 garetville, the outer end. 



On examining the facts of the time of ap- 

 pearance of the salmon on the Canadian 

 Atlantic Coast, I have failed to find that 

 they correspond with the idea of progressive 

 movement from the ocean to the rivers, but 

 I have found a relation between the time 

 of the salmon's appearance and temperature. 

 Where the fishery starts is the place where 

 the water warms first. 



When we enquire whether or not the 

 fish are feeding locally when they are cap- 

 tured, we get definite information from the 

 fishermen of food being obtained in the 

 salmon in these localities and this we have 

 been able to verify. Also the salmon are 

 taken occasionally in the various types of 

 gear that might be expected to secure them, 

 such as long lines (trawls) or hand lines, 

 or shore weirs, so that we see only evidence 

 indicating that they are remaining locally, 

 feeding, growing, and remaining relatively 

 inactive during the winter. They start to 

 become active when the water warms up in 

 the spring and are to be caught when moving 

 about. 



The gear by which they are ordinarily 

 caught is such as to capture them effectively 

 only when they cease feeding and roam 

 about actively or when concentrated near 

 the shore or near the surface, and so run 

 into the nets that are moving with the water 

 near the surface. The whole picture fits in 

 with the salmon occurring in the regions in 

 variable proximity to the mouths of the 

 rivers. 



Mr. Cowie. That is in the Bay of Fundy. 



Dr. Huntsman. It applies also to the 

 Gulf. 



Dr. Belding. My remarks referred to the 

 salmon of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I con- 

 sider that entirely different conditions exist 

 in the St. John River and the Bay of Fundy 

 sections and still more different in the small 

 rivers of the Minas Basin section. I believe 

 that when the salmon stock of a river con- 

 sists chiefly or entirely of grilse that these 

 salmon do not go far from the rivers. For 



instance, in certain rivers of Newfoundland, 

 which are frequented only by grilse, the fish 

 are much smaller than in other sections, a 

 fact which may be explained by the assump- 

 tion that the salmon do not go far from the 

 river influence and are subject to a local 

 environment. 



Dr. Rich. Why do they mature only as 

 grilse ? 



Dr. Belding. In these grilse rivers the 

 only spawning salmon are the male and 

 female grilse. 



Dr. Huntsman. It is desirable to con- 

 sider the various possible interpretations of 

 the facts, so that the truth may be reached. 

 It would be expected that some of the Port- 

 aux-Basques fish would be from the rivers 

 of the southern part of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence. The young may well be carried 

 out to the ocean and may also be carried 

 back and concentrated at that point. It 

 being a place where there is practically no 

 river influence, the salmon there on ceasing 

 to feed would roam widely and far and not 

 quiet down until they reached river in- 

 fluences. In concluding that the salmon re- 

 main largely in the vicinity of the river 

 mouths, I have extended sea distribution of 

 part of the stock clearly in mind. We have 

 definite evidence that Bay of Fundy fish 

 have been caught on the east coast of New- 

 foundland. 



Dr. Belding. In general the Port-aux- 

 Basques salmon differ in their characteris- 

 tics from those of the west coast of Cape 

 Breton, as shown by Dr. Huntsman's scale 

 readings of the Margaree fish. Therefore 

 there would not be any great number of the 

 Port-aux-Basques fish passing to Cape 

 Breton. 



Dr. Huntsman. There is evidence that 

 Miramichi kelts go out into the ocean and 

 reach the east coast of Newfoundland, 

 There is perhaps a greater likelihood that 

 some of the smolts take such a course. 



Dr. Belding. The introduction of kelt, 

 which possibly react differently, into a dis- 

 cussion on maiden salmon tends to confuse 

 the picture. 



Mr. Menzies. Is it possible for them to be 

 carried back at the rate of 28 miles a day, 



