12 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



northward, so that at the present time Maine has virtually the only 

 commercial smelt fishery of the Atlantic States, and even that has 

 greatly fallen off in recent years. It is also shown that most of the 

 smelts consumed in this country come from the Canadian Provinces, 

 principally from New Brunswick. In this connection the smelt fish- 

 eries of Massachusetts, Maine, and Canada are historically discussed 

 and compared, and from the comparison it appears that while the 

 smelt fishery of the United States shows a marked decline, that of 

 Canada has greatly increased in economic importance. Some of the 

 causes to which the decline in the United States is attributed are as 

 follows : 



1. Lack of effective regulation of methods, time, and places of 

 fishing. 



2. Lack of protection of the fish during the breeding season and 

 failure to protect immature smelts. 



3. Physical and chemical obstructions to the ascent of streams for 

 spawning. 



Doctor Kendall has also been occupied with the preparation of a 

 paper pretaining to the life history of the smelt as revealed by scale 

 studies and measurements of specimens and has studied hundreds of 

 scales and specimens. The question of species and races of smelts 

 is also being considered. 



Scale readings of marine smelts indicate that such fish first spawn at 

 the age of 2 years and that the great majority of smelts that ascend 

 the streams to spawn are of that age. Three-year fish are less com- 

 mon, those four years old still fewer in number, and five-year fish are 

 comparatively rare. For example, of 1,000 smelts taken in the same 

 brook in two successive years (1924 and 1925), 896, or nearly 90 per 

 cent, were 2 years old; 75 individuals were 3 years, 25 were 4 years, 

 and 4 specimens appeared to be 5 years of age. In October and 

 November, 1925, 70 out of 132 smelts taken at random from a dealer 

 in 1 and 2 pound lots, or something over 50 per cent, were in their 

 second year; 59 individuals were in the third, 2 in the fourth, and 

 1 in the fifth year. Had these fish lived until the next spring they 

 would have reached exactly the ages of 2, 3, 4, and 5 years. 



In the report concerning the conservation of the smelt fishery, 

 Doctor Kendall expresses the belief that if the fish were to be ade- 

 quately protected and the fisheries properly regulated, the fishery in 

 Maine might be rehabilitated to a great extent. 



Analysis of various data, of which the foregoing figures are an ex- 

 ample, leads to the conclusion that the maximum productivity to 

 which the smelt fishery can be brought depends largely upon the un- 

 disturbed breeding of 2-} T ear-old smelts, and this depends upon the 

 attainment of that age by the immature smelts. In the smelt 

 fishery great quantities of immature smelts are destroyed, and it is 

 impossible to prevent this destruction as long as certain prevailing 

 methods of fishing are employed; but the destruction may be reduced 

 to a minimum by establishing refuges where no smelt fishing except 

 by hook and line will be permitted. Accordingly, Doctor Kendall 

 recommends that all smelt fishing, except by hook and line, be pro- 

 hibited in tidal waters such as arms, coves, creeks, etc., one-half 

 mile or less in width. It is furthermore advised that the closed 

 season for breeding smelts begin March 1. 



