PASSAMAQUODDY FISHERIES INVESTIGATIONS, 



1957-1958 



by 

 International Passaxnaquoddy Fisheries Board 



INTRODUCTION 



In 1956, the Governments of Canada and 

 the United States asked the International 

 Joint Commission to determine whether 

 the tidal forces of Passamaquoddy and 

 Cobscook Bays could be used to produce 

 hydroelectric power, and to appraise the 

 effect of powerdam construction on the 

 important fish and shellfish industries of 

 the area. Two Boards were established 

 on October 3, 1956: the International 

 Passamaquoddy Engineering Board, which 

 was charged with a study of the engineering 

 aspects of the proposed project, and the 

 International Passamaquoddy Fisheries 

 Board, which was made responsible for 

 a study of fisheries that might be affected 

 by the project. The specific reference to 

 the International Passamaquoddy Fish- 

 eries Board was-- 



... to determine the effects, beneficial or otherwise, 

 which such a power project might have on the local and 

 national economies in the United States and Canada, and, 

 to this end, to study specifically the effects which the con- 

 struction, maintenance, and operation of the tidal power 

 structure proposed might have upon the fisheries in the 

 area. . . (Cf., I. J. C. Docket 72, October 3, 1956.) 



The first regular meeting of the Fish- 

 eries Board took place on November 16, 

 1956. Thereafter regular meetings were 

 held semiannually. Informal meetings 

 were also held immiediately before Inter- 

 nationcil Joint Commission hearings in 

 April and October each year. 



The Board appointed a research com- 

 mittee of Canadian and United States scien- 

 tists to develop plans and to conduct the 

 necessary research on the fisheries of 

 the Passamaquoddy Region. 



A joint engineering and fisheries com- 

 mittee of the Engineering and Fisheries 

 Boards was set up in accordance with 

 directions from the International Joint 

 Commission dated October 4, 1957. The 

 Joint Engineering and Fisheries Com- 

 mittee assured that no aspects of the 

 Passamaquoddy problem would be over- 

 looked, established an appropriate and 

 practicable line of demarcation between 

 the work of the two Boards, andattenapted 

 to obtain uniformity in measuring bene- 

 fits and danaages. 



At its second meeting, held in Boston, 

 Mass., on March 6, 1957, the Board 

 approved a research program to provide 

 as much pertinent information about the 

 area and its fisheries as could be expected 

 within the time limits imposed and the 

 money appropriated. It recognized, how- 

 ever, that such short-term studies could 

 not answer all of the questions that had 

 been raised. 



The research program considered not 

 only the "sardine** herring fishery, but 

 also the fisheries for cod, haddock, 

 flounder, redfish, hake, pollock, salmon, 

 alewives, clam, smelt, scallops, and 

 lobsters. All of the fisheries were cer- 

 tain to be affected in some way by the 

 proposed structures. The principal prob- 

 lems concerned the sources of fish, 

 method of transport to the fishing grounds, 

 the environmental conditions within Pas- 

 samaquoddy and Cobscook Bays and their 

 approaches, and the commercial value of 

 recent catches. 



The investigations extended to all parts 

 of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine 



