490 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



this species in Maine have met with some success; at least seven rivers there (versus 

 two in 1925) now have Salmon populations, with sizable runs in four or five of them (45). 



Relation to Man. The Atlantic Salmon has long been highly esteemed as a table 

 fish; in fact, its bones have been found commonly in caves occupied by prehistoric man 

 in western Europe. Ausonius, a Latin poet of the fourth century, was the first to 

 describe fishing for this species — in the Moselle River, a tributary of the Rhine. 



Since the Atlantic Salmon is prized as a game fish as well as a commercial species, 

 it is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate its true monetary value. Angling is one of 

 the most popular of outdoor recreations, and the Atlantic Salmon's value is indicated 

 by the relatively large sums of money that sportsmen are willing to spend to fish for it. 

 Salmon fishing ranks with the higher satisfactions of life for which some men are willing 

 to pay handsomely after their physical needs have been satisfied. The value of the 

 Canadian commercial catch is in the neighborhood of a million dollars a year, and it 

 has been estimated that the angling fishery is worth more than this amount {44). 



Range of Sea-going Populations. The general range of Salmo salar includes the 

 coasts of northern Europe and North America, from the Arctic to Portugal in Europe 

 and to New England in America. In Europe the northern limit is the Tschernaja River, 

 which flows into the White Sea east of the Pechora. The southern limit is the Mino 

 River at the boundary between Spain and northern Portugal; perhaps a few reach the 

 Douro River midway of Portugal {123: 18; 24'. 35; logx 354; no: ■^s^\ g6: 155). 



There are many good Atlantic Salmon rivers in Iceland. 



The Atlantic Salmon is relatively scarce in Greenland; it is known mainly from 

 the southwest coast. Before the 1920's it was known from small numbers at only 

 Kapisigdlit (Godthaab Fjord, 64°io'N) and Amerdlok Fjord (near Holsteinsborg, just 

 within the Arctic Circle). However, during the 1920's, according to Jensen, it increased 

 oflF western Greenland with rising sea temperatures {y6: 17, 18). Towards the end of 

 that decade a migration occurred in October and November in the Sukkertoppen 

 district (65° 22' N), and later, especially in 1935 ^^'^ 1936, the Salmon occurred in 

 large numbers at several places in the same district from October on into December. 

 In 1952 is was reported for Amerdlok Fjord, Ikerasak (Sukkertoppen district), and 

 Kapisigdlit (59: 92). In 1951 an Atlantic Salmon was found in the stomach of a shark 

 taken in the Umanak River (about 70°2o'N), north of Disko Island; it must have 

 been devoured only a short time before the shark was caught because the Salmon 

 was so fresh that the natives ate it. The northernmost river in which the Atlantic 

 Salmon was known to spawn in 1953 was near Kapisigdlit (5J: 79-81). 



On the North American mainland the Atlantic Salmon ranges north to Hudson 

 Strait. There was a commercial fishery in Ungava Bay from 188 i till the early 1930's 

 (59), and there still are spawning migrations into the larger rivers on the eastern half 

 of the Bay between and including the George and Koksoak rivers. The latter is at 

 present the western limit of its normal distribution in this area. According to native 

 report, it is occasionally taken as a stray in the Leaf River, farther west; and a fishing 

 camp for anglers has recently been established on the George River (148: 215). 



