BUEEAU OF FISHERIES 



PASSAMAQUODDY POWER PROJECT 



The proposed damming of Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays to 

 develop Iwdroelectric power may adversely affect the fisheries of the 

 Bay of Fimdy and the coast of Maine. A subcommittee of the 

 XoVth American Committee on Fishery Investigations reported on 

 December 12, 1928, as follows: 



1. That in its opinion if the proposed construction is carried out, tlie weir 

 fisheries for herring inside the dams will be almost wholly eliminated. 



2. That it is recognized that the effects on the fisheries outside the dams, 

 predicted in the report on the subject presented V)y Doctor Huntsman, may 

 follow, but the committee as a wliole is not prepared to forecast whetlier these 

 results will or will not follow, believing tliat a fuller investigation is necessary. 



It is agreed that the peculiar hydrographic conditions in the vicinity 

 of Passamaquoddy Bay result in the upwelling of deep water from the 

 Gulf of Maine, bringing with it abundant stores of dissolved chemicals 

 necessary for the production of a wealth of plant and aninial life 

 which are the basic food supply of fish. The abundance of these 

 microscopic forms is believed to be responsible for the remarkable 

 concentration of the herring and pollock fisheries in Charlotte County, 

 New Brunswick, and the adjacent coast of Maine. There are grounds 

 for belief that the installation of the proposed dams may so change 

 natural oceanographic circulation as to materially reduce the pro- 

 duction of fish food and influence the spawning of the herring and thus 

 may have an important effect on these fisheries. 



In 1928 the catch of fish in the general region which may be affected 

 amounted to 190,000,000 pounds valued at nearly $5,000,000. Of 

 the total, 130,000,000 pounds were herring and 10,000,000 pounds 

 pollock. 



On September 20, 1929, the Canadian Government proposed an 

 investigation by the joint efforts of the two Governments, requiring at 

 least two years of field observations at an estimated cost of $45,000 

 per annum. 



An appropriation of $22,500 for meeting the United States share of 

 expenses for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1930, was made by 

 Congress. 



INTERNATIONAL FUR TRADE EXHIBITION AND CONGRESS AT LEIPZIG 



A joint resolution of Congress approved March 21, 1930, author- 

 ized participation by the Government of the United States in the 

 International Fur Trade Plxhibition and Congress held in Leipzig, 

 Germany, in 1930. An approi)riati()n of $30,000 was granted for 

 the preparation, transportation, and demonstration of an exliibit 

 portraying the de\elopment of the fur industry in the United States 

 and the production, conservation, and utilization of fur as a natural 

 resource. 



The joint display of the Department of Agriculture and the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce was a modern presentation of fur resources and 

 conservation measures and compared favorably with showings by 

 other nations. The display of the Department of Commerce had to 

 do chiefly with the fur-seal activities of the I'ribilof Ishmds, as admin- 

 istered through the Bureau of Fisheries, and inchided mounted fur 

 seals and blue foxes, fur-seal skins, an allegorical presentation show- 

 ing how international cooperation saved the Alaskan fur-seal herd from 



