566 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



general alteration in their abundance during the past 15 years or so for either Maine 

 or Canada, except locally, as in the Miramichi area, Canada, where their access to 

 fresh water has been hindered by obstructions in the streams. On the contrary, the 

 yearly Canadian catch increased from an average of only 8,000,000 pounds for the 

 20-year period 191 8— 1937 {^^ to 21,295,000 pounds for the later period 1951- 

 1954. This increase doubtless is indicative of an increasing demand for them rather 

 than of any corresponding increase in their abundance. 



Artificial Propagation. American Smelt have been a favorable subject for artificial 

 propagation. 1* Many million fry were hatched in past years at the Cold Spring Harbor 

 Hatchery, New York, as well as at the Palmer Hatchery, Massachusetts (p. 565), The 

 results have been widely heralded, for great catch increases were reported for streams 

 where fry were released. The most notable example is that 32 million eggs were col- 

 lected in 1885 from a New York stream where there had been no Smelts for at least 

 some years previous (55 : 188). And a similar example, though less spectacular, was 

 reported for Massachusetts. 



Relation to Man. The American Smelt is a favorite among the market fish, deli- 

 cious when fresh-caught or even after being iced properly, and great numbers, especially 

 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are marketed. The average landings reported for the 

 four-year period 1 951— 1954 were 5,323,000 pounds for the Canadian Atlantic coast 

 and 150,700 pounds for the United States coast, or a total of 5,473,700 pounds; that 

 is, C^K^ million individuals if these ran say, 10 to the pound, all marketed for human 

 consumption. Years ago they served as cod bait in the Gulf of St. Lawrence {60: 224), 

 and large quantities were used yearly as manure along the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 shores of New Brunswick {^6\ 135). 



These fish also have great recreational value. As many as 2,336 anglers have been 

 counted "smelting" about Houghs Neck in Boston Harbor at one time, and the same 

 sort of thing is to be seen on a smaller scale throughout their range. On occasion, espe- 

 cially on a rising tide, the fish bite greedily. Sea worms {Nereis) are the best bait, espe- 

 cially for larger fish, salt-marsh shrimps (Crago) a second best, and small fish a poor 

 third. They have also been reported as taken with a small red artificial fly in the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence {60: 225), and doubtless they might be taken with a fly elsewhere. On 

 the other hand, anglers prefer American Smelt to other bait for landlocked salmon in 

 lakes of northern New England and of the Maritime Provinces, Canada, wherever they 

 are to be had. 



Methods of Capture. The commercial catch is made chiefly in nets of various kinds, 

 but partly with hook-and-line. For example, of the 1954 Maine catch, which may serve 

 as a representative year, about 31 "/o were taken in haul-and-stop seines, about 26 "/o 

 in gill nets, about 2 1 "/(, in bag nets operated through the ice, about 4 "/q in weirs, and 

 about 1 8 °/o on hook-and-line. In New Hampshire, however, in that same year, 3 "/o of 

 the commercial catch was made in bag nets, 23 "/o in weirs, and 74 "/o on hook-and- 

 line. Along the New Brunswick shoreline of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the 



14. For methods employed, see especially Rice, 86: 41-56; also 55: 188. 



