464 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



those emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fish of 40 pounds were not uncommon 

 years ago, but today an Atlantic Salmon of that size is rare. 



The record recognized by the International Game Fish Association as the heaviest 

 Atlantic Salmon taken by rod and line is a 79-pound 2-ounce fish caught at Tanalev, 

 Norway, in 1928; also, in 1921, a 74-pound fish was taken in Norway on a fly 

 (jj5: 3,4). An 83-pound fish has been reported as being netted in England {l8\ and 

 an 84V4-pound fish in Ireland in 188 i (5j). There are reports also of "a one-hundred- 

 and-three pound, two ounce salmon taken in a net on the Devon River in Scotland" 

 {148: 23), and of others weighing over 100 pounds (JJJ: ^(i)\ however, records such 

 as these are to be accepted only with extreme caution. 



Size-Weight Relationship. The accompanying graph (Fig. 122), based on records for 

 specimens from several localities, both American and European, is presented as a rough 

 over-all average of length and weight for the species. A curve for any one locality 

 would probably differ to some extent from that for any other. 



Spawning and Number of Eggs. Atlantic Salmon, following their early growth in the 

 river and one or more years at sea (see also Spawning Survival, p. 479), return to fresh 

 water to spawn (p. 473), the spawning time usually occurring in fall or winter according 

 to locality. In Canada generally, actual spawning occurs in late October and early 

 November, but in Greenland, near Kapisigdlit in Godthaab Fjord, it is said to occur 

 in early spring (52). In northern Europe they may spawn as early as September (in 

 Iceland still earlier) or as late as January, or even later; thus in some Scottish rivers 

 they do not spawn in numbers until after New Year's Day (JOO), while in southern 

 England spawning has been observed as late as the third week in March, mainly in the 

 lower reaches (122). See also Coastal and River Spawning Runs (p. 475). 



Any place where the conditions are favorable may be used as a spawning site — 

 from just above tidal waters to the upper reaches of a river, sometimes as much as 

 200 miles or more from the sea. The depression, or so-called "redd," in which the 

 eggs are deposited, is made in shallow sections of the stream where the current is 

 swift. The most suitable bottom is a coarse gravel, with many stones from two to eight 

 inches in size, that allows well-aerated water to penetrate. Loose gravel or sand is un- 

 suitable because of its shifting nature (lo). 



The spawning act has been described repeatedly, but the most careful observations 

 are those by Jones and King, first made in 1947 and confirmed by them in 1948 (yg'., 

 80 ; y8). For their studies they built a glass-sided observation tank on the banks of the 

 River Alwen, a tributary of the Welsh Dee. From this they made lateral observations 

 and took photographs that could be studied later. 



Before depositing her eggs, the female cuts a depression in the gravel with her 

 tail and feels the bed with her anal fin. The male takes no part in making the bed and 

 is often not present, but he courts the female and drives away all other fish. 



Just before the spawning act, the female drops into the bed, opens her mouth, 

 erects her fins, and bends her tail upwards. Upon this the male immediately joins her 

 and settles alongside, quivering, with his mouth agape. At this instant the pair spawns 



